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Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations title push has been hit by the loss of captain Caelan Doris for Saturday’s clash with Wales
And, in a further blow to Simon Easterby’s side, hooker Ronan Kelleher and prop Tadhg Furlong have also been ruled of the Cardiff showdown.
Doris has a knee issue while Kelleher and Furlong are sidelined with respective neck and calf problems.
Doris and Kelleher were injured in the the 32-18 rout of Scotland in round two, while Furlong has yet to appear in this Six Nations having also missed the autumn because of a torn hamstring.
The Championship’s only unbeaten side are optimistic that the absentees will recover in time for the March 8 title showdown with France.
“We’re hoping they’ll be available for France. They’re just going through their processes that they do with the physios, but they’re all making good progress,” attack coach Andrew Goodman said.
The loss of Doris means Ireland will have a new captain for the visit to the Principality Stadium and Goodman believes they are blessed for options.
“There’s some good leaders in the squad. The leadership group’s been growing well over the past couple of years and there’s a number of players who have captained their provinces, so we have some good options there,” he said.
