Saturday Round-Up

Tuohy Trouble: Ulster are facing a prolonged period without international second row forward Dan Tuohy, after he left the field with an injured wrist last night as Ulster overcame the Cardiff Blues. Tuohy, who broke into the Irish national setup over the course of the past 18 months, has been integral to Ulster’s rise to the upper echelons of European Rugby, but now seems likely to be absent for a lengthy period as he nurses his wrist injury. According to early reports emerging out of the Ulster camp, Tuohy has in fact broken the wrist on the same arm he had a plate inserted just last year following a previous injury. 29 year old Tuohy has made over a century of appearances for the northern Ireland based franchise and has become an integral member of their squad, even more so this season since the departure of former Springbok Johan Muller from the second row department. Tuohy has also been capped on nine occasions for Ireland. 

AB’s Delayed: The All Blacks always remain determined in the face of adversity and this week was no different, as thy insisted late changes to their travel plans wont affect their ability to put the Argentineans away this weekend. Having had their initial flight out of Auckland, New Zealand, grounded, Steve Hansen’s men will now fly out of their homeland on Sunday, leaving them ample time to prepare ahead of next weekend’s clash with The Pumas on Argentinean soil. The All Blacks face a 32000 kilometre round trip over the coming weeks but skipper Richie McCaw says his side can have no complaints having already seen both South Africa and Argentina do the same over the course of recent weeks. McCaw, accepting the reality of the situation infront of his side, said there were no excuses over the coming weeks and that his fellow All Blacks would desperately need to mentally prepare for the challenge ahead.

Ryan Sheady