A mix of good, bad and downright worrying.
Jack McGrath is the worst of Leinster’s injury worries after they lost their Guinness PRO12 semi final to Scarlets. As McGrath’s season is now over, with Leinster, he now becomes one of the major worries for British & Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland.
The loose-head prop lasted only eight minutes of Leinster’s 27-15 defeat and Leo Cullen’s post-match update would hardly fill you with confidence. He said:
“Jack got a whack on his arm so we’ll see how he is. He may need to get an x-ray but again, we’ll see how he settles down.”
Last only 8 minutes. We wish him well https://t.co/AaCBrFHlPx
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 19, 2017
Asked if McGrath’s arm injury may impinge on his Lions hopes, Cullen admitted it was ‘very early to say’. He added:
“He has an ice pack on his arm [right now]. He just lost a bit of power there so we’ll see how he is.”
There were also knocks for fellow Lions squad members Tadhg Furlong and Johnny Sexton, while Garry Ringrose, Rhys Ruddock and Luke McGrath were all in the wars.
“Tadhg was just cramp on 60 minutes, he was replaced by Michael Bent,” said Ruddock. “Garry got a bang on his knee, but it was nothing major that I was aware of.
“A couple of HIAs [Head Injury Assessments] as well, Luke McGrath after 20 minutes and Rhys Ruddock as well, so those disruptions don’t help either, but having said that against 14 men we should be a lot better. We’ll see how those settle down and they’ll get assessed on Sunday.”
Sexton came in for some typically rough treatment and was walking gingerly after the game.
Johnny Sexton walking on his own during a sombre lap of honour
Hayden Triggs getting a lovely send-off. Not to be. pic.twitter.com/PbaM1TxBgH— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) May 19, 2017
There was better news for Gatland as Scarlets hooker Ken Owens got an almost clean bill of health. He is expected to miss the PRO12 final but should be fit to travel to New Zealand on May 29.
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