Marcus Horan will not be available for the opening RBS 6 Nations Championship game against Italy on Saturday, but has been named in the Ireland Wolfhounds squad to play Scotland A in Ravenhill on Friday night.
Rory Best could also miss out on a place in the squad.
Both players came through yesterday’s clash with England Saxons unscathed.
The Wolfhounds went down 17-13 in a full blooded and entertaining clash against the Saxons but senior side head coach Declan Kidney will have been at least as concerned about how Best and Horan fared with the Irish scrum likely to be targeted by opposition teams over the coming weeks.
Both men were returning from long-term injuries. Best has missed almost a full year with a neck injury that emerged soon after last year’s RBS 6 Nations, in which he was understudy to Jerry Flannery. Horan has been out since early December with a minor heart issue.
Ireland A coach Michael Bradley told Irishrugby.ie: ‘Rory did really well and we felt at half-time he was running out of steam. It's a big ask to play against a quality side like the Saxons for a full 80 minutes. There was no issue with the injury and it was just a match fitness decision.’
Horan played the full 80 minutes in an Ireland scrum that gave as good as it got and popped up on numerous occasions in the loose.
Bradley added: ‘Marcus was good too and kept up his level of performance for the whole match. He was the man who was jumping on the ball at the end to get turnovers for us. It was good to see.
‘It's very important for Irish rugby that both Rory and Marcus are available for Declan Kidney and the upcoming Six Nations. They are not quite there yet and may not be considered for the Italy game next Saturday. But there are four mighty games after that and the more games they get, the better.’
