Ireland head coach Andy Farrell will be sweating over the fitness of his captain, Peter O’Mahony, ahead of the Six Nations.
The Munster back-rower left the pitch in the second half of his side’s Investec Champions Cup defeat to Northampton Saints on Saturday.
This comes in the same week that was named the new captain, replacing the retired Johnny Sexton.
The 34-year-old was replaced in the 66th minute of the defeat to Northampton, with leading 23-16 when he departed.
Graham Rowntree’s side would then go on to let their lead slip, with Fin Smith converting a penalty and Sam Graham’s try to
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“Pete, we’ll get an injury report tomorrow,” head coach Rowntree told reporters after the match without disclosing the nature of his injury with reports suggesting that it is a hip issue.
“He has got a couple of little bangs there; we’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
O’Mahony’s injury was not the only fitness concern to come from the fixture, with veteran scrum-half Conor Murray withdrawing from the matchday 23 before kick-off.
Meanwhile, Thomas Ahern – who was included in the Ireland squad as a training panellist – was forced off the pitch with an HIA after he copped a nasty knee to the head, which resulted in a red card for Northampton’s Curtis Langdon.
Rowntree also said that they will only know more about Ahern’s injury on Sunday as he will spend the night in hospital.
The news comes as a further blow to Ireland’s squad as they head into the tournament without wingers Mack Hansen and Jimmy O’Brien and prop Dave Kilcoyne.
Meanwhile, Leinster fly-half Harry Byrne was unable to finish his side’s Investec Champions Cup win over Leicester Tigers.
Byrne has been struggling with an ankle injury that Leo Cullen said he may have aggravated during the match.
“He’s okay; Harry did well to get through as much as he did, to be fair, what 65 minutes or so, because at the start of the week, he didn’t train,” the Leinster boss told The Irish Times after the game.
“He came back in on Thursday, and full credit to him. He did well. I think he just aggravated his ankle, so hopefully that settles down quite quickly, but yeah, great effort from him.”
The Ireland squad are set to gather in Dublin on Monday before their training camp in Portugal.
