Jamie Heaslip's late withdrawal for Peter O'Mahony ahead of the rousing victory over England, and the subsequent performance of the latter, set conspiracy theories abounding. Given his remarkable injury record, Heaslip pulling up in a Six Nations warm-up was extremely surprising, with Sunday Independent journalist Paul Kimmage voicing his doubt over a Jamie Heaslip injury on The Last Word with Matt Cooper:
This is the man who never gets injured. He gets injured warming up before an England game.
I'm looking at the timeline because this is what is really interesting about it. On Monday, O'Mahony is put forward as the senior player for Ireland's first press briefing of the week. On Thursday, Joe Schmidt names the flanker on the bench, retaining his back row of Stander, O'Brien and Heaslip.
On Saturday, O'Mahony features on the cover of the match programme and is the lead interview inside. And then the injury itself. Who told him he rolled his ankle? Because when you roll your ankle, you roll your ankle - you definitely don't have a sore back. Where did that story come from?
I'm not buying it. I think the truth will come out eventually. I'm not buying it anyway.
This afternoon, however, Leinster Rugby have confirmed that Heaslip is indeed injured, and has undergone a procedure on his lower back.
INJURY UPDATE: Jamie Heaslip had a minor procedure on his lower back this morning. Further update to follow.
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) March 24, 2017
LC: "Jamie had a procedure this morning which will rule him out for a number of weeks." #LEIvCBL
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) March 24, 2017
As is often the case, the Six Nations has left Leinster counting the cost of the aftermath: they will also be without Rob Kearney for much of the rest of the season, and will be out for four to six weeks.
LC: "Rob had a procedure earlier in the week. He'll probably be out for around 4-6 weeks." #LEIvCBL
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) March 24, 2017
The announcements were made as Leinster confirmed their team to face Cardiff in the Pro12 this weekend. Here's the team in full:
WATCH: Here is your #LeinsterRugby starting XV for #LEIvCBL.
Tickets: https://t.co/XktJZRQ1Bv pic.twitter.com/fa0K2I6Fzj
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) March 24, 2017
Most worrying is the fact that Kearney and Heaslip will be missing against Wasps in the Champions Cup quarter-final next Saturday.
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