Ireland head coach Declan Kidney has revealed that wing Simon Zebo will be sidelined for ten weeks after breaking a bone in his foot against England.
Zebo, who went off in the tenth minute of an bruising contest and was replaced by utility Keith Earls, is now set to undergo surgery on Monday.
As well as the rest of the Championship, which finishes on March 16, Zebo is also in line to be ruled out of Munster's Heineken Cup quarter-final away to English champions Harlequins on April 7.
Ireland coach Declan Kidney, who confirmed the extent of Zebo's injury, had slightly better news regarding the rest of a growing casualty list.
He estimated fly-half Jonathan Sexton, who went off against England after half an hour with a hamstring injury and was replaced by Ronan O'Gara, would be out for two weeks.
Flanker Sean O'Brien (tight hamstring), lock Mike McCarthy (knee ligament strain), centre Brian O'Driscoll (twisted ankle) and lock Donnacha Ryan (back) also sustained injuries, but have yet to be ruled out of Ireland's next Six Nations match, away to Scotland on February 24.
"Simon will have surgery tomorrow (Monday). Johnny will have a scan either later tonight or tomorrow," said Kidney. "It looks like a couple of weeks for Johnny, but it would be wrong to try and second guess the outcome. We'll know more by Tuesday.
"It's been an attritional couple of games and we had a few injuries leading into the tournament, but that's the way it goes."
Comments
rugby_rockstar says...
Speedy recovery dude.
Posted 09:41 13th February 2013
melkdave says...
That is a massive blow for him personnally and Ireland ,you can virtually say his season is over .Given he will need 2-3 weeks to recover hisform and match fitness after.Hope im wrong , and he recovers qickly as he is a player of great potential
Posted 21:58 10th February 2013
mlbp says...
Get better soon, Simon. As a fan that's a heavy loss...
Posted 20:27 10th February 2013
stumpy says...
Dreadful news coming from an Englishman. Zebo is a real treat to watch, a winger with a creative mind in getting passed the whitewash, as well as obviously being a talented runner. It's a real shame the rest of the tournament wont have it's presence, but despite that I still think he should be on the plane to Australia later this year.
Posted 20:05 10th February 2013