England and Bath winger Ruaridh McConnochie will not feature against Ireland at Twickenham this Saturday attack coach Scott Wisemantel has confirmed.
The 27-year-old is yet to make his test
debut despite being named in England’s Rugby World Cup squad, having been named
in the starting line-up for the side’s two clashes with Wales only to be ruled
out by a hip and hamstring injury respectively.
However, even though he is yet to appear in
a test game Wisemantel believes that the coaches already know enough about
McConnochie to be relaxed about the situation but would love to see him play.
“Look, in a way, we already know what Ruaridh can do. We’ve seen him in the Premiership and in the Sevens on the big stage. So, I’m confident he’ll fit in really well, but it would just be nice to get him out there. It’s like anyone in the 31, we need to see them play. But with his prep, it was just one of those unlucky things. It was the second to last play in the run, and he just pulled up and felt it tighten up a wee bit. He knew it probably wasn’t right. Then after the scans, it was a tiny little tear. It’s a minor hamstring issue. We’re just trying to get him right. To have two false starts like that, we want to make sure he’s got the best possible prep, to do him justice,” he said.
Having played at international level for
the nations Sevens side most would assume that McConnochie will slide into XV’s
test rugby seamlessly.
Elsewhere, Henry Slade and Jack Nowell will
continue to nurse injuries and will once again miss out.
In more positive news for the English, prop
Mako Vunipola and back-rowers Mark Wilson, Tom Curry and Sam Underhill all look
set to be available for selection for the game this weekend.
Vunipola has been out of action since
Saracens’ Champions Cup final win over Leinster in May and it would be a
massive boost for the squad as they continue to step up their World Cup preparations.
