Ireland’s Backline Selection For Wales Game Becomes Clearer Following Injury News

Gary Ringrose looks set to retain the number 13 jersey against Wales this Friday.

The return of Jared Payne to provincial action had many speculating that he would usurp the young Leinster star in midfield, especially considering he lined out in the centre for Ulster this past weekend.

The New Zealand born star however, sat out today’s session at Carton House after picking up some bruising against Treviso this past weekend and is unlikely to start against Wales. The problem is unrelated to the kidney injury which kept the 31-year-old out for the last four months.

He felt pretty good on the weekend. Pretty sharp,” Simon Easterby said of Payne.

“But he has been a long time out of the game and so we have been pretty comfortable with what we have picked so far and we’re happy with the guys who have been playing in those positions.

“For Jared it is great to have him back around and hopefully we will see him train on Wednesday and then we will take it from there.”

Asked whether Payne could still feature for the trip to Cardiff, Easterby added:

”Yeah, it’s bruising. It’s nothing worse than that. He has been out for a long time and some players will take a little bit more to recover from games, especially when they have been out for so long.”

Rob Kearney took full part in training today after suffering a groin injury in the win over France, and is likely to be fit in time for the Wales game.