Ireland await news of Carbery injury

Joey Carbery did not suffer a fractured ankle in the win over Italy but Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt is unsure how serious the fly-half’s injury is.

Carbery was carted off in the second half of a 29-10 Rugby World Cup warm-up win in Dublin on Saturday, just seven weeks before the tournament starts in Japan.

The 23-year-old scored Ireland’s first try and controlled the game at number 10 before doing damage to his left ankle at the base of a ruck.

Munster’s Carbery was cleared of a break and must now wait to discover the extent of his setback.

Full time score @AVIVAStadium IRELAND 29-10 ITALY #ShoulderToShoulder #TeamOfUs #IREvITA pic.twitter.com/VXOVJPZuU4

— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) August 10, 2019

“The good news is there’s no fracture, it’s a bit puffy on the inside of his left ankle,” said New Zealander Schmidt.

“We’ll give it 24 to 48 hours for the swelling to go down. He’s been cleared of a fracture so that’s the good news on Joey.

“We don’t have anyone else who’s a major concern. We’re hopefully relatively unscathed but with Joey it will take 24 to 48 hours to know for sure.

“I was really happy with Joey’s performance today. Defensively he got himself into the right places and that’s a challenge sometimes.

“I thought he ran the game very well, with the variety of his kicking game and running game. He is a danger with the ball and he almost got through the line a couple of times. I thought as a package Joey’s game was really tidy.”

First-choice fly-half Johnny Sexton has been struggling with a thumb sprain but is set to return against England at Twickenham on August 24.

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