Given that Joe Schmidt has had his fingered burned due to unreliable hamstrings, Jared Payne could miss out this weekend.
Ireland trained at Carton House this morning and there was a full compliment togged out in their IRFU kit. Jared Payne was dressed for the part but he sat out the session.
Today is the penultimate training run before Joe Schmidt decides on his team to face England at Twickenham this weekend. Official word on Payne’s fitness will be delivered this afternoon but the Ulster centre remains unable to take a part in Schmidt’s sessions.
Payne played the entire second half against France with a grade one hamstring tear. Schmidt lauded his resilience after that 10-9 loss but the added strain of playing through injury has hampered the 31-year-old’s comeback.
He missed the full sessions on Friday and Monday, forcing Schmidt to look elsewhere. That appears to be in the direction of Stuart McCloskey or ‘the big fella’, as Schmidt calls him.
McCloskey, who did not feature in either of the opening Six Nations fixtures, was kept in Irish camp for last weekend’s Guinness PRO12 fixture between his Ulster side and Scarlets.
The likelihood is that Schmidt will pair McCloskey with Robbie Henshaw in midfield. That would see the Connacht man shift to the No.13 jersey. It is a position he has played in just once for Ireland but where many believe his international future lies.
The other options could be McCloskey being paired with Luke Marshall in midfield, with Henshaw at fullback, or Marshall starting at outside centre in a straight swap for Payne.
It must be noted, however, that the current injury crisis has forced Schmidt into a change on previous season’s policy. In the past, players needed to take a full part in the Tuesday training session to have any chance of Test selection.
Ahead of the France game, Schmidt admitted he had delayed his Thursday team announcement as he was waiting on the fitness of winger Simon Zebo.
