THERE was disappointing news for team manager Pat Whelan on the third day of the Irish rugby squad session at the University of Limerick yesterday. Simon Geoghegan's toe injury has not responded sufficiently well to treatment and he is now rated doubtful for Ireland's two internationals this year against Australia and Western Samoa.
"Simon has gone back to London to see his own specialist. We don't know what the situation is right now, but there is the possibility of another operation," said Whelan.
"If that is the case then he could be out for a considerable length of time," he added.
Apart from Geoghegan, Jonathan Bell, Niall Hogan, James Topping, David Humphreys, Henry Hurley and Colin McEntee all picked up injuries that prevented them from taking a full part in yesterday's session, much of which was taken by Mike Brewer, the former New Zealand captain.
There was a concentration on further improvement in fitness levels and strong physical contact, with Whelan revealing that the results of the fitness tests carried out on the squad on Friday had been very positive.
The session continues today when a high point should be a match between teams drawn from the squad at Thomond Park.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)