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Tommy Bowe is to miss Ireland’s final Six Nations clash against England after sustaining a suspected fractured leg in Friday’s damaging defeat to Wales.
The winger was introduced as a 79th-minute replacement and suffered the injury moments later before being taken from the field on a buggy.
And 33-year-old Bowe, who played no part in the 2016 Six Nations due to a knee injury, faces an uncertain future in the famous green after team manager Paul Dean revealed his latest setback.
“It’s a suspected fracture. We wish Tommy all the best and a speedy recovery,” Dean said.
“It was very unfortunate. I don’t think he was even on for a minute. We’re really sorry for him.”
Ireland’s 22-9 defeat to Wales means they can no longer catch champions England, but victory would deny Eddie Jones’ men back-to-back Grand Slams.
And head coach Joe Schmidt should have half-back pairing Conor Murray and Jonathan Sexton available, despite the former having hurt his shoulder and the latter sustaining concussion.
“Conor’s fine – he got a stinger. The full power [of the arm] is slow to come back,” he added.
“It didn’t come back quickly enough for him to stay on the pitch but it’s come back 100 per cent now.
“[Sexton] has a big black eye – with any contact to the head there will be an [assessment].
“There are three stages to that. He came through all three of them no problem and there’s no concern for concussion.”
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