Andy Farrell admitted he doesn’t know whether the serious looking calf injury which Cian Healy sustained in Ireland’s 17-13 win over Samoa in Bayonne on Saturday night will prevent the player from appearing in his fourth World Cup.
Healy, whose versatility across the front-row and experience would be invaluable, could not put any pressure on his right leg after the Irish scrum buckled in the 20th minute, and winced in obvious pain.
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“Well you saw what I saw – he pulled up sharpish, didn’t he, and then struggled to walk off. It’s his calf so there’s something going on there. But rather than guess we have to take a picture and see how it goes.”
Farrell names Ireland’s 33-man squad for the World Cup at 4.30pm on Sunday, and the Irish head coach could not speculate as to whether Healy will be able to play a part.
“I don’t know,” he said after a pause. “I wouldn’t know. We’ll get him back to Dublin and get him scanned and we’ll know soon enough.”
Of some hope is that Healy’s tour looked over in the second Maori game in New Zealand before making an unexpectedly swift comeback.
Regarding the rest of the physical wounds which Irish players suffered on the night, Farrell said that Jacob Stockdale sustained a hamstring strain. “He felt like he couldn’t go so we took him off, [but] good for Garry [Ringrose] anyway to get a taste on the wing.
“Jimmy [O’Brien] has a sprain in his clavicle, not too bad. Robbie [Henshaw] got a bang on the side of the shin and rolled his ankle, strapped it up, carried on – it will be sore in the morning but to be able to carry on probably tells you a little bit about that.
Stockdale was a late replacement for Keith Earls due to a “slight niggle”, but Farrell maintained: “Keith is fine. If it was a World Cup game he would have played but we decided not to take any risks.”
While it was a deeply uncomfortable night on the same day that Fiji beat England in Twickenham, there was no doubting the value of this game with the World Cup in mind, specifically Ireland’s second pool match against Tonga.
With that in mind, Farrell was glad his side had been tested and even said he was “delighted to get the win”, while adding: “It was a proper Test match, wasn’t it? I said during the week it would be good if it rained and we find out about ourselves. It was difficult conditions and things weren’t always going to go your way, especially against a good side like that.
“They’re a good side, Samoa. They’re gonna shock a few teams. It isn’t just the traditional stuff that they’re good at. You saw the big carries at the end, they’re powerful. But they’re fit, they have a great set piece. A lot of good things are happening for them – their coaching staff have done a fantastic job.
“So in the end, I was pleased with our mentality, as in: no panic, finding a way, fixed our set piece at half time. Subs came on added hugely to our physicality and three tries to one – Test matches are tough to win in conditions like that and we managed to find a way so I’m pleased really.”
