RUGBY:STEPHEN FERRIS has become a serious doubt for Ireland's three-match tour to New Zealand. The Ulster flanker, who injured a calf muscle during Ulster's Heineken Cup final defeat to Leinster, was scheduled to see a specialist yesterday in Dublin. Irish management now consider him the most likely player to miss the tour.
Otherwise Declan Kidney and his staff are satisfied that the other players who are carrying injuries or are being treated have a strong chance of staying in the squad before they depart on Monday.
Paul O’Connell, who had his cast removed on Wednesday, has been running this week at the Irish team base in Carton House, while Seán O’Brien has had a procedure carried out on his knee but his recovery is expected to be swift.
Brian O’Driscoll had a similar issue with his knee and returned to training within a week and played eight days later.
Chris Henry and Brett Wilkinson will hopefully be involved in the Barbarians match, while loosehead prop Cian Healy has a dead leg and is fully expected to recover.
Ireland play their first Test against the All Blacks on June 9th.
“I think there is a possibility that he may miss the tour,” said Irish manager Michael Kearney of Ferris. “He’s going over to Santry this afternoon for a specialist to have a look at it so we’ll probably know a little bit more this evening, but at the moment he’d have to be considered a fairly serious doubt.”
Given the physical nature of the tour, the injury is a blow to Kidney as Ferris would be an automatic backrow pick. Leinster’s Kevin McLaughlin will benefit if the flanker is ultimately ruled out.
“Stephen’s got a calf strain and is being monitored and a decision will be made on Monday,” added Kearney. “Paul (O’Connell) is progressing well. He did some running today. He will be monitored over the next few days.
“Chris Henry and Brett (Wilkinson), we’re hoping will be involved against the Barbarians on Tuesday and they’ll be assessed afterwards. Isaac Boss has been removed from the Rabo final and we will continue to monitor him.
“Cian Healy has a dead leg in the thigh area and again he’s undergoing a fitness test tomorrow (for Rabo final) but we’re hopeful that he will be fit to tour. Seán O’Brien had a small procedure on his knee during the week and we’re hopeful that he will be fit.
“Seán would have been with the Leinster medics all week, the procedure we were told was similar to the procedure that was carried out on Brian O’Driscoll. So there’s a little bit of a floater in his knee and that’s been removed. But again the information that we’ve received and in terms of the medics talking to each other, we’re reasonably hopeful or confident that he’ll be okay.”
Barring Ferris, Boss’s injury appears to be the one causing most concern. Management ruled out any Peter Stringer involvement in the replacement equation should the Leinster scrumhalf not pass a fitness test.
Any vacancy at nine will be filled by Ulster’s in-form Paul Marshall or Tomás O’Leary.
“Paul is obviously in the squad for the Barbarians on Tuesday night,” added the Irish manager. “So I think you can assume Paul will be there, thereabouts. Tomás O’Leary will be considered as well. That hasn’t been fully decided yet but we’d be again hopeful that Isaac will pull through so we’ll have a good look at him.”
