by Brendan Cole
Ireland manager Paul McNaughton remains ‘hopeful’ that injury-hit duo Stephen Ferris and Gordon D’Arcy will be fit in time for the Rugby World Cup opener against USA in 41 days time.
Ireland’s tournament is due to get underway with an 11 September clash against the Eddie O’Sullivan-coached Eagles.
Both Ferris and D’Arcy are battling injuries sustained last year. Ferris missed last year’s RBS 6 Nations and key Ulster games due to a knee injury, while D’Arcy picked up an ankle injury in Leinster’s Heineken Cup final victory over Northampton in May.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport’s Michael Corcoran at Ireland’s training camp in Carton House, McNaughton said: “We have several players who are on the injury list. Most of them are ‘legacy’ injuries from last season. Obviously (Stephen) Ferris and (Gordon) D’Arcy are the most serious of those.
“Stephen had injury problems all the way through the second half of last season and unfortunately Gordon picked up an ankle injury in the Heineken Cup final that had to be operated on.
“They are the two guys who are higher on the injury list though we are still hopeful. They are making progress and we are still hopeful that they will win the race to get on the plane to New Zealand.”
Brian O’Driscoll is just short of full fitness and likely to miss the early warm-up games, though McNaughton and the management team are not overly concerned at this point.
McNaughton said: “Brian O’Driscoll has a neck injury but he is doing 80% of what we were hoping he would be doing. We are not really worried about him at this stage but he probably won’t partake in the first couple of games.”
McNaughton added that aside from Ferris and D’Arcy, several long-term absentees are either fit or close to full fitness.
He said: “On the other hand you have good news. Rob Kearney and Geordan Murphy are fit to play. Jerry Flannery, who has had an awful time over the last year, has taken a full part in training over the last couple of weeks and is eligible for selection.
“Shane Jennings is going to be eligible in a week’s time. He had a broken arm after the Munster v Leinster Magners League final. He is progressing and will be ready to play the week after this.”
Ronan O’Gara, victim of a minor calf strain, is not a major concern.
“He had a slight strain that kept him out of contact and running for about a week but he has been fine and has been fully training for the last two weeks.”
McNaughton and the management team are striving to maintain a positive atmosphere in the camp, even though with only 30 of the 40 players in the squad set to travel there will inevitably be disappointment for some.
He said: “I think everybody is excited. The World Cup only comes around once in four years. It’s a massive tournament and it has gotten bigger and bigger.
“It is a long four weeks until they go. They are all working very hard and they are all hopeful. We want to maintain that mood of optimism right up until we have to make calls.”
McNaughton also revealed that Ireland could release some players back to their provinces, who are also involved in pre-season work, in order to make sure they get enough game time.
He added: “We have got five games, which is about 400 minutes, and a we have got a squad of about 40 and 30 have to go to New Zealand. You have to get the mathematics right, and get some guys game time.
“You would want most guys to have a couple of games under their belt out of those five games. It would be preferable to give the guys who have been out for long-term injuries a little bit more.
“We are going to co-operate with the provinces. They have some pre-season games as well so a guy might play for 60 minutes for Ireland on one Saturday and he might be asked to play for his province in a pre-season friendly the following Saturday.”