Stephen Ferris has been confirmed as unfit for selection for Ireland's opening game of the RBS 6 Nations Championship against Italy following a consultation with a knee specialist.
Ferris picked up a cartilage injury to his right knee during the Ulster Heineken Cup game against Aironi and was unable to train with the Ireland squad last week during the Limerick camp.
The knee did not respond to the rest period and Ferris was referred to the knee specialist, who confirmed yesterday evening that while the injury did not require surgery he would not be available for the Italy game.
Ferris will continue with his rehabilitation and while there remains a doubt regarding his availability for the France game, he has not been ruled out of a return to play in time for selection.
The Ireland Wolfhounds were beaten 32-13 by Scotland A at Netherdale on Friday night, after turning around at the break with a 13-9 lead.
A try by Ireland Wolfhounds debutant Willie Faloon and a conversion and two penalties by Ian Humphreys were the only scores Eric Elwood's men could muster as they went down 32-13.
Scotland A changed their tactics in the second half and in Elwood's words, they attacked the Wolfhounds 'close to the ruck'.
The consequence was two tries for the Scots from Moray Low and Hefin O'Hare. Scotland out-half David Blair led the scoring with a goal-kicking haul of 19 points - hitting five penalty goals and two conversions.
The Wolfhounds had looked full of rugby in the first half, much the sharper with ball-in-hand and the more aggressive at the ruck.
By contrast, Scotland A struggled to make headway with their backline attacks and up front they were frequently on the back foot.
However, coming into the second half, the Scots changed their tactics with devastating results as Elwood admitted afterwards. He said: 'They attacked us close to the ruck and dominated possession. We simply didn't have much ball and could do very little.
Tommy Bowe is a major doubt for Ireland's second RBS 6 Nations fixture against France, according to his club the Ospreys.
Bowe was last night ruled out of the tournament opener against Italy at Stadio Flaminio on Saturday week with no date set for his return.
But any hope the 26-year-old Lions winger will be fit to face France a week later faded today following an update from the Ospreys' head physio Chris Towers.
'We're continuing to liaise with the Irish medical team regarding Tommy's condition and the management of his injury,' said Towers.
'We've taken the decision to continue to offload him, allowing the knee to settle further, and at this stage remain optimistic that the problem will resolve in the short term.
We are hopeful that in a couple of weeks, if he continues to improve as he is, he will be able to get back into some rugby specific training without any reaction or ill effect.'The signs are encouraging at this stage, but it is clear that it will be another couple of weeks before we can confirm whether or not this problem will impact on more than just the first couple of Six Nations fixtures.' Ireland's preparations for the Six Nations have been hit by an injury crisis that has robbed them of eight players capable of featuring in the matchday 22.
Head coach Declan Kidney can ill-afford to lose such an effective player as Bowe for the first two games of the championship, especially with three of his potential replacements - Shane Horgan, Geordan Murphy and Andrew Trimble - also injured.
London Irish prop Faan Rautenbach has been given a three-week ban for stamping on the head and shoulder of Munster flanker David Wallace.
Rautenbach was yellow-carded following the incident during Munster's victory in the teams' Heineken Cup clash in Limerick last Saturday.
The subsequent citing was upheld with an initial suspension of five weeks reduced by two weeks by an independent disciplinary hearing because of mitigating factors.
Rautenbach is free to play from Friday, 18 February.
Munster's clash with Brive in the European Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-finals will take place at the Stadium Municipal Amédée-Domenech.
The match will kick-off at 2pm on Saturday, 9 April. The stadium's capacity is 15,000.
Munster were knocked out of the Heineken Cup after failing to secure one of the best runner-up spots in the group stages.
Ireland coach Philip Doyle has named his squad of 25 players for the forthcoming RBS Women's 6 Nations Championship.
Doyle has included a number of seasoned internationals alongside some new faces who have emerged this season.
Fiona Coghlan will captain the side for her second season.
Ireland open their campaign with a fixture away to Italy in Rovigo, on Sunday 6 February and will again make Ashbourne RFC in Meath their home for the tournament.
Speaking of his selection Doyle said: 'The dedication of the players has been excellent, both in their individual attention and motivation and as a squad.'
'We recognise the potential of the squad while respecting the challenges ahead, the first of which is to start the Six Nations campaign against Italy away with a good performance.
'Being the first game of the championship means we have little knowledge of the opposition so our concentration is to be accurate as possible throughout the game with and without the ball.'
Ireland squad for the RBS Women's 6 Nations Championship:
Gillian Bourke, Niamh Briggs, Lynne Cantwell, Fiona Coghlan,
Amy Davis, Lauren Day, Ailis Egan, Siobhan Fleming, Laura Guest,
Ashling Hutchings, Niamh Kavanagh, Mairead Kelly, Stacey Kennedy, Emer McManamly, Claire Molloy, Larissa Muldoon, Joy Neville, Gill Nolan, Deirdre O'Brien, Heather O'Brien, Geraldine Rea, Marie Louise Reilly, Jackie Shiels, Nora Stapleton, Carol Staunton
