The Irish management were relatively confident that Devin Toner would not be cited for an incident in the 75th minute of Saturday's 22-17 win over Wales, although they and the player himself faced an anxious wait until the stipulated 48 hours from the full-time whistle had passed.

Wales were laying siege to the Irish line five minutes from the end when the Welsh loosehead Rob Evans picked and plunged for a score. Toner went low to defend the Irish line and caught the back of Evans's head after the replacement prop had turned around in a double tackle by Rory Best and Iain Henderson just before contact.

A citing would seem very harsh but in the current climate, as Joe Schmidt alluded to a fortnight ago, players and coaches are now far more fearful of sanctions being incurred.