Ireland coach Andy Farrell is sweating on the fitness of Tadhg Furlong ahead of the Championship restart, after the front-rower sustained a calf injury in Leinster training.
The 27-year-old hasn’t featured for the provincial side since before the lockdown due to a back injury, but was expected to be involved at the start of the fresh Guinness PRO14 season which gets underway this weekend.
However, having recovered from that issue, Leinster have confirmed Furlong will be on the sidelines for “a number of weeks” as a result of an unrelated problem he picked up ahead of their Champions Cup quarter-final defeat by Saracens in September.
The news puts Furlong’s availability for Ireland’s rescheduled Round 4 Guinness Six Nations match against Italy on October 24 in doubt, as Farrell’s charges aim to clinch their third win of the Championship.
Furlong has started all three games so far in the current campaign, winning the last of his 44 Test caps in Ireland’s 24-12 defeat to England at Twickenham ahead of the break in play due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Leinster have also confirmed that Ireland flanker Dan Leavy will miss the start of the new domestic season as he continues his recovery from a long-term knee injury. Leavy made the last of his Six Nations appearances as part of the 2018 Grand Slam-winning squad.
