Ireland were hit with some major injury blows in the last week with first Luke Fitzgerald, and then Johnny Sexton being ruled out of the tour with South Africa before they'd even got on the plane. Fitzgerald was ruled out with a knee injury, and Sexton has had surgery on a shoulder problem.
Joe Schmidt confirmed the worst about Sexton when he addressed the media today at Carton House. The Ireland head coach also announced the replacements for the injury players - bringing up Connacht winger Matt Healy and Bordeaux outhalf Ian Madigan, as expected. Simon Zebo hasn't done enough to persuade Schmidt that he's back following keyhole surgery at the end of Munster's season.
Schmidt also issued an update on the Kearney brothers who both shipped injuries in the last week in training. Both Kearney has been ruled out, with Craig Gilroy and Connacht full-back Tiernan O'Halloran being called up.
It will be interesting to see who will start at full-back with both Simon Zebo and Rob Kearney ruled out.
See Also: Decoding Whether Joe Schmidt Is Bullshitting Or Not On His Squad Explanations
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