Kidney counts the cost of defeat

Rugby: Ireland wing Simon Zebo will miss the remainder of the Six Nations after breaking a bone in his foot in today’s 12-6 …

Rugby:Ireland wing Simon Zebo will miss the remainder of the Six Nations after breaking a bone in his foot in today's 12-6 defeat by England at the Aviva Stadium.

Zebo will undergo an operation tomorrow to repair the damage incurred in the 10th minute of a brutal Test in Dublin and has been ruled out for up to 10 weeks.

The prognosis on Jonathan Sexton’s hamstring injury was less grave with coach Declan Kidney estimating a two-week lay-off for the Leinster outhalf, who was replaced by Ronan O’Gara after half an hour.

Flanker Seán O’Brien (tight hamstring), lock Mike McCarthy (knee ligament strain), centre Brian O’Driscoll (twisted ankle) and lock Donnacha Ryan (back) also sustained injuries, but have yet to be ruled out against Scotland in two weeks' time.

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“Simon will have surgery tomorrow. Jonny will have a scan either later tonight or tomorrow,” Kidney said. “It looks like a couple of weeks for Jonny, but it would be wrong to try and second guess the outcome. We’ll know more by Tuesday.

“It’s been an attritional couple of games and we had a few injuries leading into the tournament, but that’s the way it goes.”

A 10-week lay-off for Zebo would rule the Munster wing out of the Heineken Cup quarter-final against Harlequins on April 7th and quite possibly the semi-final if they were to beat the English side at The Stoop.