Paddy Wallace has been called into the Ireland World Cup squad as a replacement for his injured Ulster team-mate Jonathon Bell after the latter's troublesome Achilles tendon problem cut him down in training again yesterday.
Bell (29) was always fighting a losing battle to make the flight to Sydney next Monday once his Achilles problem flared up in the dying stages of his late cameo against Italy in Thomond Park over three weeks ago.
Eddie O'Sullivan had admitted that Bell had been causing him the most concern of the injured quartet in Ireland's 30-man squad, as he hadn't been able to train fully since and that "it is a chronic Achilles tendon problem".
The unfortunate Bell was always going to have to prove his fitness this week anyway.
"I'm naturally bitterly disappointed," admitted Bell yesterday. "I suppose it's a great relief that I'm out as I have been under considerable pressure to prove my fitness. Now I will concentrate on getting myself back to full fitness and ready to play for Ulster."
"Paddy Wallace will be the replacement," O'Sullivan confirmed, in choosing the 24-year-old utility back ahead of, say, the more experienced Mike Mullins, although despite playing at inside centre and full back as well as outside centre, Mullins wouldn't be regarded so much as a versatility player.
Wallace was undoubtedly Ulster's rookie of the year in his breakthrough campaign the season before last. The heir apparent to David Humphreys at outhalf, he actually made a bigger impression from full back. He played for Ireland A at outhalf against the New Zealand midweek side that season, and thereafter at full back for the As, where a faulty and televised night under the high ball against England in Northampton didn't do him justice.
That said, last season was virtually a write-off for Wallace after he broke his leg against Swansea in the Celtic League. Wallace will presumably be the alternative full back to Girvan Dempsey though he's been filling in again for Humphreys at outhalf this season.
O'Sullivan remains confident Shane Horgan, John Hayes and John Kelly will be on the flight to Australia next Monday. Indeed Horgan might even have been deemed fit enough to play for Leinster last weekend and this coming Friday at home to Edinburgh. O'Sullivan, however, says "it's too close to the off, and to pick up any sort of a niggle wouldn't be a good idea. But I'm not concerned about Shane, he's flying in training.
"It is a little more of a concern with a forward, because of the attrition of the forwards, and especially props," and with that in mind O'Sullivan confirmed Hayes is back running this week.
"We'll see how he goes but we're still looking to Romania (Ireland's World Cup opener on October 11th) to give him a run-out."
