“The reason? He was assaulted by Sean O’Brien away from the ball, a punch in the stomach”.
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Early on in the clash, Pascal Pape when down with an abdominal injury – but cameras caught O’Brien actually punch the French lock.
“Ireland flanker Peter O’Mahony has been ruled out of the rest of the Rugby World Cup after sustaining a knee ligament injury against France yesterday”, the Irish Rugby Football Union said in a statement.
Pape and Ireland have history. It saw O’Brien, who was after awarded man of the match, swing his arm at Pape, with the Frenchman going to ground briefly as a result.
O’Brien’s availability for the next game is not the only concern for Ireland as Jonathan Sexton and Paul O’Connell were both injured during the win over France at Millennium Stadium.
O’Connell will nearly definitely not return but scans over the coming days will reveal whether Sexton and O’Mahony can recover in time for Ireland’s quarterfinal showdown with Argentina, who shape as a risky beast. But it’s not for me to determine.
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“I truly hope not”, Schmidt replied when asked whether O’Brien faced a ban. It’s not a closed fist, but it’s not a decision for me. “Considering the dressing room we have and the amount of injuries we have, we can’t afford to lose another player, particularly not one of Sean’s standing in the group”.
