Jared Payne ruled out of World Cup with foot injury

As usual with this Ireland management, things are done differently.

There will be no quick announcement - like, for example, when South Africa lost Jean De Villiers to a broken jaw - with Jared Payne’s replacement not named until Sunday evening.

There may be a few more call-ups after France and Ireland meet in what is already established as one of the most punishing Test matches in world rugby.

“It’s massive in some ways,” said Greg Feek of Payne’s loss. “He’s been a mentor to Robbie Henshaw. He is so helpful with so many in the team. A big decision maker in our team and there is his defensive record as well.

“There was a bit of a moment for him today for him. It is always sad to see one of your family members in the situation he is in.”

Payne’s replacement is probably known already but the guessing game continues. Yesterday the communications manager even informed the media that Payne trained fully and it was a “selection” call. This despite a fractured foot that was initially injured against Romania on September 27th.

It seems foolish to believe that Joe Schmidt, known as the most meticulous coach to ever land on these shores, has not long ago planned for this very situation.

So, conjecture reigns again. Andrew Trimble, Stuart McCloskey, Luke Marshall and Craig Gilroy all ran for Ulster in victory over Treviso on October 2nd. Fergus McFadden and Noel Reid showed well in Leinster’s victory over Dragons. Munster fullback Felix Jones is another strong candidate who just missed out on the original 31 man cut.

Trimble, McFadden and Jones are the front runners.

But the loss of Payne to Ireland is incalculable.

“What he has done in such a short space of time since he’s been here is incredible,” said Paul O’Connell of the 29 year old Kiwi.

“From an Irish context he has a very calm influence on people. Great chat on the pitch, telling you what to do in one very short sentence. Very good for the backs. Very good for Johnny, very good for Robbie Henshaw.

“Very clever defender and attacker. He isn’t that old but he had an elder statesman presence around the place in terms of how he did things.”

Tommy Bowe added: “A pretty big blow alright to the squad...He’s been one of most consistent players over the last couple of years. He’s playing outstanding rugby. Losing a player like that is going to be a massive blow to any squad.

“We all felt chatting to him he felt very positive about it but he went for a scan there I think yesterday (Friday) and that was the final nail in the coffin unfortunately.

“Bit of a shock when we all heard it this morning. It’s your worst fear with the big matches coming up. I’m disappointed for him.

“We all enjoy playing alongside him - he is a big loss but we have Keith who is playing outstanding, we have Darren Cave and Luke Fitzgerald.

“I enjoyed playing alongside Keith last week, I feel very comfortable playing alongside Jared but for Keith to step in and play the way he did and to look as comfortable as he was, added a lot of confidence to the squad especially now with Jared out.”

When Trimble’s name was mentioned, he added: “Trimby is a great mate of mine. I’d love to see him out here.”

But the players must immediately switch their attention to France.

“It’s always tough against France,” said a sobering Paul O’Connell.

“To me you look at the sheer physical size of them, look at the power and speed of them as well as being big. Guys like Picamoles, Bastareaud...great skill as well.

“For Ireland, with just four professional teams, it is always a big challenge for us.”

This is in all likelihood O’Connell’s last match against France (the first being in 2002) and he’s lost more than he’s won despite the draw, draw, win, win these past four seasons.

“I am never confident,” O’Connell said when the recent record was brought up. “I’d like to think I’m confident we’ll get a performance with the intensity that’s required but the result you are never confident about that. It’s about doing a whole number of things right and getting a bit of luck as well

“These 24 hours before kick-off are always tough, you know, because the doubts are there, the fears are there so I wouldn’t say confident of the result but confident of the performance.”