Murphy answers Irish SOS
INJURY UPDATE: Ireland have called Ulster’s Jordi Murphy into their World Cup squad, after confirming Jack Conan will miss the rest of the tournament with a broken foot.
Leinster star Conan suffered his injury in training on Thursday and withdrew from the starting line-up to face Japan in Shizuoka on Saturday.
“Jordi [Murphy] will arrive in Japan on Sunday and will join the Ireland squad in Kobe as they prepare for Thursday’s Pool A game against Russia,” read the Irish Rugby Football Union statement.
The top-ranked nation going into the tournament suffered one of the great World Cup upsets when beaten 19-12 by the Brave Blossoms, to blow Pool A wide open.
Fullback Rob Kearney is in doubt to face the Russians after failing a Head Injury Assessment during the defeat, and frustrated boss Joe Schmidt admitted Ireland are now left to play catch-up in the race to qualify for the quarter-finals, with the top two in Pool A heading into the last eight.
Ireland battered Scotland 27-3 to open their campaign in style, but the loss to the hosts has halted that momentum.
“Potentially the losing bonus-point could be really important, it means we have six points from two pool games so far,” said Schmidt.
“Japan have nine points, and then Samoa has five.
“We will I suppose have to chase a little bit now because we want to stay in with a chance of topping the pool. Certainly, we’ve got to get in the top two.”
