Ireland's routine, eight-try win against Italy came at a cost as two of Ireland's most important players, Robbie Henshaw and Tadhg Furlong, were forced off through injury. Furlong lasted only three minutes before being replaced by Andrew Porter, having suffered a hamstring injury.
Of most concern, however, is Henshaw.
The Leinster centre dislocated his shoulder in touching down for his second try of the game, an incident uncomfortably redolent of this Alan Quinlan moment.
In his post-match interview with Sinead Kissane of TV3, Joe Schmidt delivered some mixed news on the injury front. While admitting that Henshaw's tournament may be over, he did have some encouraging news to offer on Furlong, confirming that his withdrawal was primarily precautionary and that he should be fine to resume training later this week ahead of the visit of Wales.
Tadhg is ok. It was precautionary, and he had no problem earlier in the week. He should be able to train later this week ahead of a full week of preparation the following week.
