Ireland's injury toll piles up ahead of Bok showdown

INJURY UPDATE: Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has been left counting the cost after the United Rugby Championship Irish derby between Leinster and Munster on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium.

According to the Irish Times, Joey Carbery sustained a shoulder injury during Munster’s 13-27 defeat to Leinster on Saturday.

Carbery was forced to leave the field in the 54th minute after it appeared he extended his shoulder when tackling Leinster flank Scott Penny.

Munster head coach Graham Rowntree said the injury will be assessed over the next couple of days.

“Joey came off with a shoulder injury which we’ll assess in the next couple of days,” Munster head coach Graham Rowntree.

“I thought he did well, he is showing great confidence on the ball, and he’s showing great composure the way Mike (attack coach Prendergast) is training him. I can’t tell you how pleased I am with him.

“So we’ll assess his shoulder in the next few days.”

Ireland captain Sexton is set to don the No.10 jersey against South Africa, while Farrell will be hopeful that the backup flyhalf Carbery will recover in time for the encounter.

Aside from Johny Sexton and Carbery, uncapped Ciarán Frawley is the only other nominated flyhalf in the Irish squad.

To make things more concerning for Andy Farrell, Frawley also departed the field with a shoulder injury during Saturday’s derby.

However, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen revealed Frawley’s injury does not appear too serious and has confidence that his player can perform really well at Test level.

“He had a bang on the shoulder, but he wasn’t too bad,” Cullen said.

“Ciarán is a quality rugby player so wherever he ends up playing and similar to Joey [Carbery], wherever Joey ends up playing, he played here at 15 primarily and obviously I don’t know the extent [of his injury].”

The rest of the Ireland squad are due to assemble in the IRFU HPC on Monday.

Ireland face the Springboks on November 5.

*Additional reporting: Irish Times