Dan Sheehan is facing an extended period on the sidelines after sustaining a knee injury in Ireland’s 27-20 loss to South Africa at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. The 25-year-old suffered a suspected ACL tear and, if so, it is a dreadful blow for the player, Ireland and Leinster with a likely seven-to-nine-month recovery period.
Sheehan, who will return home immediately, damaged his knee in the first half and was replaced at half-time by Rónan Kelleher. In another setback for the Ireland team Craig Casey will miss Saturday’s second Test in Durban having been stretchered off with severe concussion symptoms.
Casey was tackled and driven backwards by South African secondrow and former Munster team-mate RG Snyman, landing on his back and taking a concussive blow from the whiplash effect as his head hit the ground forcefully.
Ireland’s head coach, speaking straight after the match, said: “He’s [Casey] concussed. He was still on the trolley when I came in at the end so obviously it was concerning enough but he was up and walking around, not quite himself yet, but he’s up and about and wondering what’s going on.”
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Ireland will offer a definitive medical update at a briefing on Monday when they will confirm whether any additional players will be summoned. Kelleher is likely to take over in Sheehan’s number two jersey with Rob Herring coming on to the bench. At a pinch, Cian Healy can play hooker if either was to suffer an issue in training, as the prop has previously demonstrated.
Conor Murray, a try-scoring replacement for Casey in Pretoria, will start in Durban with Connacht’s Caolin Blade set to join the replacements and add to his two caps, the most recent of which was against Italy last summer.
The Ireland squad is facing potential further disruption with a sizeable injury profile. Robbie Henshaw (concussion) took a blow to the head in falling awkwardly when tackling Springbok captain Siya Kolisi on 12 minutes but played on until half-time when he was replaced by Garry Ringrose.
Andrew Porter sustained a hand injury when snagging his thumb on Pieter-Steph du Toit’s jersey, which may have split the webbing between thumb and forefinger. There was a significant amount of blood and discomfort, but he subsequently returned to play on.
Centre Bundee Aki (shoulder) and James Lowe (thigh) also took heavy knocks and must be doubtful for the second Test in Durban. Debutant and try scorer Jamie Osborne came off with a groin issue according to Farrell but the player was confident that he would be fit for the weekend, describing it as a “bang”.
The 22-year-old demonstrated character and composure to shrug off a couple of little errors, to show some of his footballing skills and cap a memorable day with Ireland’s first try. He said: “I am extremely proud to have played for my country. Obviously, it is tough to lose, but the lads have made the week very special for me.
“I have enjoyed the week, enjoyed the match despite the result. I found out that I was starting on Tuesday and on Thursday night [at] my jersey presentation Garry [Ringrose] said a few words.
“Unfortunately, my family wasn’t able to make it over. The lads got them up on Facetime and there were a lot of good luck messages and other messages that were shown in the team meeting. It was very special.”
Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale and Jordan Larmour could feature in the backline depending on injury permutations.
Farrell was asked what he expected from the squad this week. “First and foremost, make sure they turn up for work in the right manner, make sure they’re not feeling sorry for themselves, so that they’re open enough to be honest, learn the lessons and put them right. Attack the week, have a good week, and enjoy it.
“It’s our last week of the season, they should be buzzing for that. You only get to that point if you’re able to be honest and straight with each other and there’s a few things we need to get off our chests at the beginning of the week and then get on together.”
It wasn’t all doom and gloom, Farrell noted the character and fight that the team showed despite the injuries and setbacks, particularly in the second half. “The obvious one is we never go away. There’s fight there, we always give ourselves a little bit of hope and, with a little bit of luck, it could have been a little bit closer.
“You don’t always win a game even when you play the best, but certainly a few things went against us and that’s just life. We can certainly play better than that and I’ve no doubt South Africa would no doubt, 100 per cent say the same.”
South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus said that the Boks had no injury concerns and admitted to being satisfied by the win. “Overall, the goal was achieved but it was far from a perfect performance. Ireland are a team we’ve had zero success against since [we took over in] 2018 and they’ve really had our number.
“And there were instances where they came back so strongly and if they didn’t have one or two big injuries the game would have been much tighter.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a monkey off our back but it’s a really good competitive opponent, who is number two in the world, and any day they can step up and beat you and be number one.”
South Africa will confirm their team for the second Test at King’s Park, Durban on Tuesday, while Ireland are scheduled to announce the matchday 23 on Thursday.
