Ireland have cut Ulster scrum-half John Cooney, Connacht prop Finlay Bealham and Munster full-back Mike Haley from their World Cup squad. The trio have now returned to their provinces with the exclusion of Cooney perhaps causing the biggest surprise, as he has been in fine form for his club and also possesses place-kicking quality.
The rest of the Ireland squad will now head to Portugal for some warm-weather training ahead of their World Cup warm-up match with England at Twickenham on August 24. Fly-half Joey Carbery has remained with the squad despite being ruled out for between four and six weeks with an ankle injury he picked up during Saturday’s 29-10 win over Italy.
The Munster star, who is expected to be Johnny Sexton’s understudy at the World Cup, could be absent for Ireland’s tournament opener against Scotland on September 22 if the injury takes a full six weeks to heal. Hooker Rob Herring, who suffered a back spasm against Italy, has fully recovered and also remains part of Ireland’s 40-man squad, which will be whittled down to 31 by coach Joe Schmidt ahead of the September 8 deadline.
