Depth of Ireland squad will be tested with injuries - Joe Schmidt
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt admits his squad has been stretched by injury
©Niall Carson/PA
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt believes the depth of their squad will be tested with Robbie Henshaw joining the list of injury casualties.
Henshaw, who was the architect of Ireland's 56-19 win over Italy suffered a shoulder injury when he scored his second try at the start of the second half and was replaced immediately. He received oxygen on the field and departed with his right arm in a sling and now is expected to be on the sidelines for up to four months.
The absence of Henshaw has forced Schmidt to shuffle the midfield with Garry Ringrose fighting to be fit after ankle trouble, and Chris Farrell and Rory Scannell as other options to slot in at centre.
Ireland expect Tadhg Furlong, Iain Henderson and James Ryan to be fit to face Warren Gatland’s men, but Schmidt admitted the depleted ranks at centre – Ulster’s Jared Payne has not played since last summer due to a recurring migraine – has thrown up a sizeable new challenge.
“It’s a huge test. I think people have gone past Jared Payne, who the last time we won the Six Nations played the whole time at 13 and was unbelievably good for us.
“He was one of the guys we lost in the World Cup. Now we’re down a third centre so if you look at the strength in depth, we’re down to our fourth centre.
“It’s a great test for us. There has been a lot of focus on players other teams didn’t have but we’re always excited about who we do have and focus on who we do have.
“It was a lot of glossing over the 12 guys we had unavailable but at the same time there was a lot of excitement about people saying we were in really good shape.
“If we can keep people positive despite losing Josh Van der Flier on top of not having Jamie Heaslip, Sean O’Brien and Tommy O’Donnell, I think we’re in a pretty good place. I think we’ll all be watching against Wales and find out a little bit.”
Ireland are set to host Wales next at Aviva Stadium in the Round 3 of the ongoing Six Nations Championship.
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