IRELAND – Total players currently injured: 11
SHORT-TERM
Finlay Bealham – Knee injury suffered in training is not expected to keep Bealham out for long according to The42.
Dave Kilcoyne – Will miss Ireland’s training camp in Spain this week after picking up a knee injury last weekend for Munster.
Luke Marshall – Back this week for Ulster ‘A’ from an Achilles injury that has kept him out dating back to October last year.
Craig Gilroy – Underwent surgery on a fractured cheekbone last week but should return to action at the start of February.
DOUBTFUL
Sean O’Brien – Leinster suggested that O’Brien could return at some point “during the Six Nations window” after hip surgery, although there is no set date.
Garry Ringrose – Sustained an ankle injury against Ulster a couple of weeks ago that will rule the 22 year-old out of the opening two matches.
Niall Scannell – Facing four to six weeks out from the start of January with a broken thumb, so could feature later in the tournament.
RULED OUT
Jamie Heaslip – There is no public timeframe on Heaslip’s return from a back injury, which has kept him out since last March.
Rhys Ruddock – Unlikely to return during the tournament after suffering a serious hamstring tear against Exeter Chiefs last December.
Tommy O’Donnell – Another back-row whose return date has not been set after sustaining a shoulder injury on Munster duty.
Jared Payne – Yet to play this season having suffered a succession of migraine headaches since last year’s British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.