Rugby

Stomach bug threatening to rule Rory Best out of Italy game

Leinster’s James Tracy a potential late call-up to the match squad if required

Munster winger Simon Zebo looks back on Ireland's Six Nations defeat to Scotland and says Joe Schmidt's side need 'to fight our way back into the championship'

Fri Feb 10 2017 - 14:10

Captain Rory Best must shake off a stomach bug to face Italy in Saturday's Six Nations encounter in Rome.

Hooker Best missed Ireland’s captain’s run at the Stadio Olimpico on Friday, remaining at the team hotel in a bid to beat his illness.

Munster's Niall Scannell would be in line to start should Best fail to recover, with Leinster's James Tracy a potential late call-up to the match squad if required.

Ireland may now have to hunt their first Six Nations victory of the campaign without their 101-cap skipper, with Ulster's Best in a clear race against time for full fitness.

READ MORE

Joe Schmidt’s men lost out 27-22 in Scotland last weekend and must win in Rome to kick-start their tournament.

Vice captain Jamie Heaslip would take the armband in Best's absence, but Ireland are clearly giving 34-year-old Best every chance of a recovery.

Ireland entered the Six Nations without 56-cap hooker Sean Cronin, the experienced Leinster man ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring problem.

That has opened the door for the uncapped Scannell to step up, and the 24-year-old from Munster remained an unused replacement in Scotland.

Leinster hooker Tracy made a try-scoring Test debut in Ireland’s 52-21 victory over Canada in Dublin in November.

The 25-year-old was initially overlooked for selection for Ireland’s Azzurri clash, but has been omitted from the Leinster squad to face Treviso in Italy on Sunday.

LATEST STORIES