Ireland suffer Luke McGrath blow ahead of Six Nations

Ireland scrum-half Luke McGrath will miss the upcoming Six Nations tournament following a knee injury.

The 29-year-old sustained the blow during the 60th minute in the recently concluded round of the Heineken Champions Cup in Dublin last weekend. McGrath featured for Ireland in all four games of the autumn internationals last year.

Meanwhile, Conor Murray recently recovered from a neck injury and featured for Munster which makes him the likely starter in the opening game against England with John Cooney and Kieran Marmion battling with injuries.

Head coach Joe Schmidt will be hoping for playmaker Johnny Sexton to be fit in time after being sidelined with a knee tendon though Devin Toner, Dan Leavy, Sean O'Brien and Robbie Henshaw have returned to training.

Ireland will face England in the tournament opener in Dublin on 2nd February.