Rugby:Despite suffering from concussion last weekend, Eoin Reddan has not been ruled out of Saturday's Six Nations finale against England. The Leinster scrumhalf will be monitored by the Irish medical team during the week before a final decision on his availability is taken.
Reddan was left dazed and confused when Lee Byrne's clearing kick caught him flush in the face just 49 seconds into Saturday’s contest against Wales and was replaced by Peter Stringer.
“He (Reddan) will be monitored by the Ireland medical team who will follow the IRB concussion ‘Return to Play’ protocols to determine when he has fully recovered,” the IRFU confirmed this evening. “He will also see a neurologist this week as part of the concussion management and at this point he is not being ruled out of contention.”
Reddan is the only injury concern for the Irish management team following the defeat against Wales with the rest of the squad receiving a clean bill of health. Tomas O’Leary, who missed the last two matches with a back problem, should be back available for selection. Ireland coach Declan Kidney is not due to name his starting line-up for the match at the Aviva Stadium until Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, having seen their line breached on just three occasions no team has conceded fewer tries in this Six Nations than Ireland. It’s a record that Les Kiss can be justifiably proud of, with Ireland’s rock-solid defensive system the one constant in an infuriatingly inconsistent campaign.
But England, chasing a first Grand Slam since 2003, head to Dublin with the most potent attack in the championship. Clearly, something’s gotta give and the Irish defensive coach is determined that it won’t be his system that buckles.
“England offer the biggest challenge so far to our defence and combine a balance of power with a sharp cutting edge,” Kiss said today. “While the other teams asked us questions in one or two areas, I think England will ask those questions right across the park whether that be around the rucks, in midfield or out wide.
“They also have the ability to mix it up, but it means that we have to be equally as sharp and put pressure on them in the right areas to ensure that they have to think long and hard about where they want to attack.”
Mike Phillips’s match-winning score remains a bone of contention within the Irish camp, but rather than allow any lingering senses on injustice to fester, Kiss and the rest of the management team must pick the side up.
“We found their try difficult to take and how some of the systems of officialdom let us down,” he conceded. I think Dec (Kidney)and Brian (O’Driscoll) summed up the feelings of the squad perfectly on it already, but I think all we can do now is move on and look forward to this weekend.
“This group is especially good at picking out the positives from any situation and I expect we will do that this week. There are things we need to work on and it is about trying to combine all the good things from the last four games and pulling it all together to play England.”
