Tommy O’Donnell Out Of Rugby World Cup

Dazzling Earls, making his first appearance for Ireland in 29 months, boosted his chances of being included in Schmidt’s 31-man final World Cup squad with a classy display in Cardiff.

South Africa, second in the previous rankings, failed to register a win during the Rugby Championship, finishing last with three defeats. And certainly, this far out from the World Cup, no coach would want his side to be playing too close to their best just yet.

Speaking after Saturday’s game, Schmidt admitted losing a “dynamic player” like O’Donnell would be a blow.

Ireland, who already have yesterday’s match against Wales in the bank heading into this week, are many people’s dark horses for the tournament and Brown is expecting it to be a testing reintroduction to matchplay. We just didn’t play well enough in that opening half.

Wales had four debutants while Ireland, who also rested most of their leading players, had a greater core of experience, picking a largely second team rather than lacing it with thirds. “We have got a lot to work on and we will put it right”.

Two late tries gave Wales some credibility on the scoreboard, but by then Ireland’s intensity had dropped and all of its reserves were on. He was seen as potential cover for the back row ahead of the tournament. “You can’t go out and commit that many turnovers in a game particularly against Ireland”. The 2015 Rugby World Cup begins on September 18, 2015, and will be held at various venues across England and Wales.

Wales were out of the contest at 25-0 adrift after conceding early tries scored by Jamie Heaslip, Darren Cave and Keith Earls. “There were too many errors and Ireland made us pay for them”, said the Ospreys back rower.

O’Donnell was treated at the University Hospital Wales and the Ireland Rugby Football Union have now revealed that he has been “limited to non-weight bearing activity for at least six weeks”. He was treated on the field for five minutes before being taken to hospital for a scan.