Tadhg Furlong has been ruled out of Ireland's Guinness Six Nations opener against England on Saturday with a calf injury, with the Leinster tighthead replaced in the squad by Connacht’s Jack Aungier.
Furlong missed the entire Autumn Nations Series in November due to hamstring and calf injuries, and only returned in mid-January for his province’s Investec Champions Cup pool win away to La Rochelle.
It’s the latest in a series of calf injuries that have hampered the 32-year-old in recent seasons.
Furlong sat out the win against Bath last week, but did travel with Ireland on their warm-weather training camp at Quinta do Lago this week. The IRFU haven't put a timeline on this latest injury, except for confirming he will not play against England.
Finlay Bealham now looks set to start for what would be his 49th cap, with either Thomas Clarkson or Aungier set to provide cover from the bench.
Aungier’s call-up is his first time in the senior Ireland squad.
The Dublin native (26), who joined Connacht from Leinster in 2021, has regularly shared time with Bealham in Pete Wilkins’ side, and is rewarded with a call-up after he impressed for Emerging Ireland on their tour of South Africa last year (below).
Dan Sheehan, James Lowe and Jack Boyle all linked up with the squad at their Algarve training base this evening, after getting gametime for Leinster on Saturday.
Sheehan scored two tries on his return from an ACL injury, and now looks set to be involved in this weekend’s meeting with England at the Aviva.
Connacht’s Caolin Blade is also due to join up with the squad tomorrow, after he started their 22-19 defeat to Glasgow Warriors this afternoon.
Meanwhile, Mike Prendergast has also joined the training camp for the next few days, before the squad returns to Dublin on Wednesday.
The Munster attack coach has been appointed head coach for Ireland 'A’ ahead of their friendly against England in Bristol next month.
