Tadhg Furlong has been ruled out of Ireland’s Six Nations match against England due to injury.
The 32-year-old Leinster prop will sit out Saturday’s game at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin after suffering a recurrence of a calf problem during training in Portugal.
Furlong returned to Dublin for further assessment.
He missed four of Ireland’s November fixtures due to a hamstring issue and only returned for Leinster in the win over La Rochelle three weeks ago before the win over Bath.
Uncapped Jack Ongier has been called into the squad as a replacement, but it is his Connacht team-mate Finley Bilham who looks most likely to start in Furlong’s place against England.
Marcus Smith’s last-gasp drop goal gave England a 23-22 victory over Ireland at Twickenham last year, ending a run of four consecutive defeats by them.
There was also some positive news for Ireland at the weekend as hooker Dan Sheehan was named player of the match after returning from an ACL injury for Leinster on Saturday.
Sheehan joined the Ireland squad in Portugal on Sunday, along with winger James Lowe, who also returned from injury.
- February 1: England (H)
- February 9: Scotland (a)
- February 22: Wales (a)
- March 8: France (H)
- March 15: Italy (a)
