Rhys Ruddock's inclusion in the Emerging Ireland squad was seen as a way for him to prove his fitness to Joe Schmidt ahead of the Rugby World Cup. Ruddock had been dogged by an arm injury since playing for Leinster against Harlequins last December.
Ruddock was captaining the Emerging Ireland team in their 33-7 victory over Uruguay when he had to come off after 20 minutes with an injury to the same forearm that has been troubling him since December. He's now awaiting result of an X-Ray to see whether his participation in the Rugby World Cup is still possible.
It's been a tough seven months for Ruddock since breaking his forearm in the Champions Cup double header with Harlequins. The 24-year-old flanker had to have another surgery on his arm in March after suffering a setback in his his comeback to playing, which hasn't help the momentum he earned during Ireland's successful November international games against South Africa and Australia when Ruddock stepped in excellently when Chris Henry fell ill.
Emerging Ireland coach Allen Clarke shed some light on the situation:
We will have to wait 24 hours for the results of the X-ray and scan before we can make a real assessment of the injury.
He has had a knock there before so of course I am concerned for him.
But he is a resolute young man and I'm sure he will bounce back should this rule him out of the tournament.
It will be a blow to Schmidt, who is due to arrive in Georgia to watch the final game of the Tbilisi Cup on Sunday, if Ruddock is ruled out of the World Cup, although it will improve the chances of Tommy O'Donnell, Chris Henry and Jordi Murphy of making the final 31-man squad.
