 Gordon D'Arcy is still troubled by a hamstring injury |
Gordon D'Arcy has failed to prove his fitness for Saturday's RBS Six Nations game against France and could also miss Ireland's final game against Wales. D'Arcy has a hamstring problem and Shane Horgan is unavailable, so Ulster's Kevin Maggs will partner Brian O'Driscoll at centre against France.
"It is looking like Gordon will be out for the Welsh game as well," said Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan.
Gavin Duffy comes into the replacements in an otherwise unchanged squad.
Maggs, who will be winning his 68th cap, replaces Horgan who broke his thumb in the 19-13 victory over England two weeks ago.
D'Arcy picked up a hamstring injury in Ireland's opening win over Italy and he felt a tightness in the muscle in Leinster's Celtic League game against the Ospreys on Sunday.
Further tests on Monday revealed that D'Arcy should not be risked against the French.
But O'Sullivan's assessment that D'Arcy might not be fit for the potential Grand Slam decider against Wales on 19 March is a more significant blow, given he is rapidly running out of time to push his claims for British and Irish Lions selection.
"I am worried about Gordon's availability for the Wales match because his recovery has slowed down so dramatically. The situation is a concern," added O'Sullivan.
"He is 95% there but that last 5% is taking a lot longer to heal than expected.
"He can run but not at full speed. It is a Test match so it is not as if we can throw him in and see what happens."
Ireland: G Murphy; G Dempsey, B O'Driscoll, K Maggs, D Hickie; R O'Gara, P Stringer; R Corrigan, S Byrne, J Hayes; M O'Kelly, P O'Connell; S Easterby, J O'Connor, A Foley. Replacements: F Sheahan, M Horan, D O'Callaghan, E Miller, G Easterby, D Humphreys, G Duffy.
MMIX
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Does this severely cut down our attacking options? I'm starting to get a bit worried about this one
