There’s more bad news for Ireland, Cian Healy’s ban is causing some confusion and David Campese’s been shooting his mouth off again.
Bad news bears continue to haunt Ireland
Having received the somewhat inevitable news that Cian Healy will be banned for the Scotland and France games yesterday (more on that anon), there were more bad vibes heading Declan Kidney’s way this morning when the extent of injuries to Jonathan Sexton and Mike McCarthy became clear.
Sexton cried off early doors during Ireland’s defeat to England on Sunday with a hamstring injury and although McCarthy lasted until the end, he complained of knee pain afterwards. Unfortunately, the news on both players is not good as Sexton will be doing well to feature in the rest of the competition, while McCarthy will be wearing a brace on his affected knee for the next fortnight.
“Jonny’s scan revealed a grade two hamstring injury. Progress has been good so far, but it’s too early to say when he will return to play,” said Irish team manager Mick Kearney.
“Mike has hurt the medial ligament of his right knee. It’s quite sore and he will be in a brace for two weeks. A further review will take place in two weeks,” he added.
That’s Sexton, McCarthy and Healy added to a list of absentees that already included Paul O’Connell, Stephen Ferris and Tommy Bowe. Fingers crossed there aren’t any more before the Murrayfield match-up on Sunday week.
So is Cian Healy banned or what?
Yesterday, Cian Healy received a three-week ban for a stamp on Dan Cole during the clash against England on Sunday, so you’d be forgiven for raising an eyebrow at the news that Leinster are planning on playing him against Treviso this weekend (if you fancy a pair of tickets to that game, enter our competition here).
So, what’s going on? Well, as it turns out, the Six Nations Disciplinary Committee decreed that Healy’s ban would not start until midnight this Sunday so as to ensure that he will miss both the Scotland and the France games, but with Leinster playing on Saturday and Healy set to have his feet up for three weeks afterwards, they figured that they might as well make use of him while they can.
“Cian is certainly available,” Leinster forwards coach Jonno Gibbes is quoted as saying in the Irish Times.
“Joe Schmidt and Declan Kidney have talked about the involvement of test players this weekend. Cian’s available and personally I’d be delighted to involve him, he’s a really big asset. He will definitely be considered.
Is he banned or isn’t he?
“There are complications for others maybe, but he’s available for us. It’s a game in the break of the Six Nations and he’s under consideration. Nothing is surprising when the rugby judiciary is involved. You have to go in with an open mind because you never know what will come out of it.”
The issue is further complicated by the fact that the IRFU are believed to be planning to contest Healy’s ban, so him playing this weekend might throw a spanner in the works. We’re not sure what Healy thinks of all this but we’re sure he finds it hard to get his head around, which is saying something for a man who bashes said head against the heads of other similarly-built front rows on a regular basis.
Not like David Campese to say something controversial
David Campese is so prone to controversy that it could almost be his middle name at this stage – to save you from googling it, his middle name is Ian – and not long after sexist tweets about female rugby correspondents, Campo has warned Warren Gatland of the special treatment the Lions can expect if, as expected, he brings a good selection of English players Down Under in the summer.
“The relationship between Australia and the Poms is as it’s always been. Mate, you’ve got to sledge – everyone hates the Poms!” Campese told the Daily Mirror recently.
“They win one game (against New Zealand) and all we hear is ‘they are the best team in the world, they’re going to win the World Cup, they’re going to do this, this and this’. One game doesn’t make you world beaters. You’ve only won one World Cup. You’re playing against a country that’s won two. That’s the way we look at the English.”
So quintessentially Australian were Campese’s comments, particularly his first line, that we’re surprised he didn’t squeeze in ‘flamin’ galah’ or make some reference to Alf Stewart while he was at it, but it says a lot about Campese’s loud mouth that he’s perhaps best known these days for the stuff he’s said since he stopped playing rather than what he did on the pitch.
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