Ireland is boosted by Brian O’Driscoll’s return to fitness ahead of Argentina Test
Ireland coach Declan Kidney received a boost after captain Brian O’Driscoll was passed fit to start the team’s Test match with Argentina on Sunday 28 November.
The player will win his 107th cap for Ireland against Argentina with 70 of the appearances coming as captain.
The Irish centre returned to training to take part in a non-contact training session earlier in the week and he is expected to take a full part in contact training on Friday 26 November.
The captain suffered severe bruising to his chest in Ireland’s physical encounter with the All Blacks. New Zealand won the Test 38-18 in a game which Ireland were forced to defend for long periods of game time. This led to an increase in their tackle count
and subsequently a lot more injuries.
Ireland beat the physically abrasive Samoans by 20-10 prior to playing the All Blacks and they will now face Argentina, who have one of the world’s toughest pack of forwards.
Ireland have already lost hooker Rory Best with a fractured jaw and Luke Fitzgerald and Rob Kearney to knee injuries.
Tommy Bowe, Gordon D’Arcy, Stephen Ferris and David Wallace were all absent from training after they also suffered knocks in the game with the All Blacks.
The news that O’Driscoll can play will be a boost considering the number of injuries to Ireland’s back-line.
Keith Earls and Andrew Trimble are expected to start against Argentina, but Kidney will hope that he can start a strong forward pack against Argentina. Sean Cronin is likely to replace the injured Best, but Ireland’s other forwards should be available.
Ireland will go into the match as favourites and with their inspirational captain back, they should have enough quality to see off a dogged and tough Argentine side.
Tags: