•
World Cup warm-up:
Ireland 29-10 Italy• Johnny Sexton’s stand-in carried off in Dublin
Joey Carbery’s injury scare took the gloss of a routine World Cup warm-up victory for Ireland over
Italy in Dublin. The fly-half had turned in a polished performance in what was effectively a second-string Ireland side but made way after 50 minutes in obvious pain on an electric cart. The problem appeared to be with his left ankle and Joe Schmidt faces an anxious wait to learn the extent of the injury.
If Carbery is ruled out of the World Cup it would be a considerable blow for Ireland and Schmidt, who has increasingly come to employ the 23-year-old Munster fly-half. He would effectively be without his No 2 fly-half with Johnny Sexton having struggled for form during the Six Nations and, at 34, in need of rotation in Japan. Unfortunately, however, it goes with the territory of these World Cup warm-up matches and Carbery’s will not be the first high-profile injury before the tournament begins next month.