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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Michael Scully

Andy Farrell to put together pieces of the puzzle as Six Nations takes a breather

Andy Farrell has plenty of piecing together to do when a reduced Ireland squad meets up at Abbotstown on Thursday.

With two rounds of the Six Nations already over - and a win, a loss and six points accumulated - Farrell and his coaching lieutenants can draw a breath before deciding how to approach the final three fixtures against Italy on Sunday week, then England and Scotland in March.

The fitness of his troops will form part of the equation. Ronan Kelleher's shoulder injury forced him out of the first half action in Paris last Saturday, and he will undergo tests this week.

However the Leinster hooker has been named in the 23-man panel for the mini-training camp on Thursday and Friday.

Rob Herring, who lost his starting place to Kelleher and anyway missed the opening championship games with a calf injury, is also included in the short get-together, although Ulster still had the experienced line-out thrower on their injured list yesterday.

Leinster scrum coach Robin McBryde felt that Kelleher had been unlucky, but also suggested that the injury is unlikely to be of a long-term nature.

McBryde also pointed to the invaluable big-game experience accumulated by Dan Sheehan in place of Kelleher at the Stade de France.

"Ronan has established himself very well as the number one hooker and playing really well, on top of his game," said McBryde.

"There's never an ideal time for an injury. Hopefully it’s not too serious and it won’t keep him out.

“In the same breath you’ve got to say that it provided Dan with a great opportunity on the international stage and there’s no better place to go and play over in France in front of the crowd.

"They got behind their team early on. France had an early score and then just got the crowd going from minute one.

"It’s a very difficult place to go and play then because they have their backs up and you get the feeling that you are just chasing shadows.

"But the comeback that Ireland had in the second-half was great. It really showed a lot of character so it was a great opportunity for Dan to have a taste of it.”

Ireland squad skipper Johnny Sexton will also be there on Thursday, as he continues to rehab the hamstring injury that cost him a start in Paris.

Notably, his Leinster backline colleague James Lowe resumes training this week after recovering from the calf injury that cost him a place in Ireland's Six Nations squad.

Farrell will keep a close eye on the winger's progress. "He's due to return to training this week and we're just waiting for that, really," said McBryde.

Lowe could come back into the Test picture after the Italy game, with a 13-day run-in to the England encounter at Twickenham.

Meanwhile, Farrell has released 14 players back to their provinces for URC action this weekend, and he will observe how they fare with intent.

Jack Carty and Cian Healy, who had late cameos in Paris last weekend, are included among that number.

The others released are Dave Heffernan (Connacht), Ryan Baird and Jordan Larmour (Leinster), Craig Casey, Gavin Coombes, Dave Kilcoyne (Munster) and Robert Baloucoune, James Hume, Michael Lowry, Tom O’Toole, Nick Timoney, Kieran Treadwell (Ulster).

Ireland Mini-Camp Traini ng Squad

Bundee Aki (Connacht) 35 caps
Finlay Bealham (Connacht) 20 caps
Tadhg Beirne (Munster) 27 caps
Joey Carbery (Munster) 29 caps
Jack Conan (Leinster) 24 caps
Andrew Conway (Munster) 29 caps
Caelan Doris (Leinster) 14 caps
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster) 54 caps
Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 14 caps
Mack Hansen (Connacht) 2 caps
Iain Henderson (Ulster) 66 caps
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster) 54 caps
Rob Herring (Ulster) 23 caps
Hugo Keenan (Leinster) 18 caps
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster) 18 caps
Conor Murray (Munster) 94 caps
Peter O’Mahony (Munster) 81 caps
Andrew Porter (Leinster) 42 caps
Garry Ringrose (Leinster) 39 caps
James Ryan (Leinster) 42 caps
Johnny Sexton (Leinster) 102 caps
Dan Sheehan (Leinster) 4 caps
Josh van der Flier (Leinster) 37 caps

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