Americas tour hit as injury list grows

Ireland's preparations for their three test Summer tour of the Americas have been devastated by injury in the wake of yesterday's Anglo Irish Bank international against the Barbarians at Lansdowne Road. The Barbarians won 31-30

.Brian O'Driscoll is definitely out after tearing his hamstring, while Girvan Dempsey, Jeremy Davidson, Geordan Murphy and Denis Hickie are considered extremely doubtful.

Dempsey suffered a damaged jaw and possible concussion in an off-the-ball collision with former South African international Pieter Muller, a tackle with which coach Warren Gatland took umbrage. "Girvan Dempsey got a whack on the jaw and Pieter Muller might have taken him badly out of the play and we want to have a look at that.

"Eddie (O'Sullivan) was talking to Girvan after the match and he seemed to think he (Dempsey) was taken off the ball. If that was the case we would be pretty disappointed, in the context of a match with the Barbarians and particularly the way they played the game. He's (Muller) been known for it before. We're just going to have a look at it. I hope it was accidental and purely part of the tackle."

Dempsey was stretchered from the pitch, following a six minute delay, and shortly followed by O'Driscoll, who it initially seemed to suffer in a tackle, ironically by Muller. However it was later confirmed as a torn hamstring and the talented young centre left Lansdowne Road on crutches.

Davidson was the third Irish player to require a stretcher to be returned to the dressingroom. He pinched a nerve and had no feeling while also damaging the A/C joint in his shoulder. He was adamant that he would be fine but medical opinion suggested otherwise.

Murphy sustained ankle ligament damage in a tackle as he gave Shane Horgan a try scoring pass. The initial prognosis was that it would probably rule him out of the tour. Horgan survived until the 64 minute but then became the fifth casualty on the day with a damaged medial ligament in his knee. This compounded the late withdrawal of Denis Hickie and Rob Henderson prior to the match.

Hickie is suffering with a back problem and will have an MRI scan this morning but he too may be forced to remain in Dublin. Henderson was troubled by a slight groin strain but his injury is not serious and he could have played at a pinch. Ronan O'Gara (ankle) and Anthony Foley (shoulder) are harbouring niggling injuries from Munster's European Cup Final defeat at Twickenham on Saturday.

All the injured players will undergo MRI scans or x-rays to determine their fitness. The team management will make an announcement a 1.0 p.m. today with regard to the injury crisis.

Gatland admitted: "You couldn't have asked for any worse preparation in terms of a tour, what with Munster being in a game yesterday and us trying to prepare for this game and flying out tomorrow. We ended up with a huge list of injuries and have only one training session in Argentina prior to the test match next week."

The New Zealander met with assistant coach Eddie O'Sullivan and new team manager Brian O'Brien to review the squad carnage. If Dempsey and Murphy are ruled out then St Mary's College full back Peter McKenna is likely to be called in while Hickie's problem could earn a plane ticket for Ballymena wing James Topping.

The absence of Dominic Crotty for next Saturday's test against Argentina because he gets married this week - he then flies out to link up with the tour - ensures a significant headache for the management.

A likely replacement for Davidson would be Blackrock College's Leo Cullen or Cork Constitution's Donnacha O'Callaghan or Mick O'Driscoll. O'Driscoll's misfortune is likely to ensure a recall to the squad for Munster's Mike Mullins or possibly the inclusion of Jeremy Staunton, who played yesterday.

It was desperately disappointing that the litany of injuries should mar a hugely entertaining encounter between the Irish XV and the Barbarians, a matchplayed before a 30,000 crowd. Gatland paid tribute to his team for their courage, commitment and the manner in which they played: "The resolve of the team at the moment and the character shown today particularly at the end when we ended up with Eric Miller at full back and Brian O'Meara on the wing was outstanding."