O’Driscoll out of Bok clash

Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll and hooker Rory Best have both been ruled out of the year-end internationals due to injury.

O'Driscoll picked up an ankle injury in Leinster’s win over the Cardiff Blues and following further scans and specialist review by the Ireland medical team, it has been decided that the injury will require surgery to repair ligament damage, ruling out O'Driscoll from playing for 8-12 weeks.

Ulster hooker Best has been ruled out of the games against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina due to a neck injury he sustained in last Friday’s Pro12 game in Wales against the Dragons.

Following a scan and medical review, it was confirmed that Best has sprained ligaments in his neck which will require a rest and rehabilitation period of between 4-6 weeks before a further assessment of the injury.