Dublin: Ireland scrum-half Conor Murray has been ruled out of Saturday’s Six Nations clash against England in Dublin after failing to overcome a shoulder injury.
Meanwhile, Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has dropped lock Devin Toner, with the New Zealander recalling fit-again fullback Jared Payne ahead of Rob Kearney
Murray injured himself in Ireland’s 22-9 loss to Wales in Cardiff last Friday, a defeat that all but ended their title hopes.
Kieran Marmion replaced Murray at scrum-half in the team announced by Schmidt on Thursday, with Iain Henderson preferred to Toner.
Defeat for the Irish would see them drop out of the top band of teams for May’s 2019 World Cup draw in Kyoto if Wales beat France in Paris.
Meanwhile, France coach Guy Noves refused to be dragged into the Racing 92-Stade Francais merger row Thursday as he brought Sebastien Vahaamahina back into the second row in one change for Les Bleus.
The Top 14 was thrown into disarray this week after the presidents of the two Paris-based Top 14 clubs announced a merger, which has to be ratified by the LNR, the body governing professional rugby in France.
Stade Francais players promptly voted overwhelmingly for strike action and will not train for or play in Saturday’s Top 14 clash against Castres.
When asked what effect the bombshell news had had on France squad players Camille Chat, Eddy Ben Arous, Bernard Le Roux (Racing 92), Rabah Slimani, Jonathan Danty and Djibril Camara (Stade Francais), Noves replied that he didn’t want to “reply to this question”.
“I’ve obviously spoken to my coaching staff about it because we talk about everything that’s going on, but honestly, I don’t want to add pollution to this game (against Wales),” the former long-time Toulouse coach said.
Ross Ford is to start at hooker in place of Fraser Brown for Scotland’s final game of the 2017 Six Nations against Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Ford has been recalled after Brown was sent to the sin-bin early in Scotland’s thumping 61-21 defeat by England at Twickenham last week following a dangerous ‘tip tackle’ on Elliot Daly.
The inclusion of Ford is the only change coach Vern Cotter has made to the starting XV for the New Zealander’s final game in charge of Scotland.
Although well beaten by England in a match where a win gave their oldest rivals the Six Nations title, victory over the Azzurri could still see Scotland finish second for the first time since the tournament was expanded to six countries in 2000.
Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour and Ryan Wilson have all declared themselves fit following head knocks against England.
The only other change to the match-day squad sees Gloucester centre Matt Scott return to the bench to replace Mark Bennett, who only managed just two minutes as a first-half replacement against England before suffering leg and arm injuries.
“The players were frustrated by last weekend but we must take all the learnings from the past years and produce a strong, complete performance to put us in the best possible position to finish in the top half of the table,” Cotter said.
“We want to repay the support of another sell-out crowd.
“Matches between Scotland and Italy have always been tough affairs. We have a lot of respect for them and feel they have been improving throughout the competition.
“They showed in this campaign they can be innovative, so preparation has been key to ensuring we put in a good performance. We have to be ready for anything.”
