Tadhg Beirne ruled out for 3 weeks while Adam Byrne drafted into Ireland squad
Connacht’s Quinn Roux has been called up to Ireland’s Six Nations squad as a replacement for the injured Tadhg Beirne.
Back-row Beirne has been ruled out of the first two rounds of the Six Nations, games against England on 2 February and Scotland seven days later, with a knee injury picked up in the Heineken Champions Cup win over Exeter on Saturday.
Eadestown native Beirne had been looking forward to the tournament after being included in the Squad for the first time.
'Special Player'
Munster coach Johan van Graan praised Beirne as a 'special player' after his recent Man of the Match performances.
The South African said: “I think Tadhg’s a special player.
"He’s had a few man of the match performances in this competition.
"He’s very dynamic and he’s one of the only locks in world rugby who can poach the way he can."
The coach said the Kildare man is also working very hard on taking charge of the lineouts.
He added: “He’s worked so hard on his calling.
"When he arrived he wasn’t really a calling option, I threw him into the deep end. I think he’s developed into one of the form locks in the competition.”
Adam Byrne
Meanwhile Adam Byrne, who helped Leinster secure a home Champions Cup quarter-final with victory over Wasps on Sunday, will travel to Portugal for Ireland's training camp this week as Andrew Conway picked up a knock during Munster's round six win over Exeter.
Conway is unable to train this week but expected to be fully fit to train next week, ahead of Ireland's eagerly-awaited opening clash with England.
Roux captained Connacht to their Challenge Cup win over Bordeaux at the weekend, guaranteeing the province’s passage to the knock-out stages, and has been given the nod by Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt.
Having missed the game against Wasps due to a shoulder injury, Jack Conan will continue his treatment at Leinster this week and should be fully fit again next week.
Rob Kearney and Jack McGrath will remain with Leinster in order to gain game-time in the Pro14 against Scarlets on Friday. All other players reporting niggles from the weekend's European matches will be managed by the Ireland medical team in Portugal.