Ireland’s Bealham has HIA control, while Sheehan may be chosen to face Springboks – Winnipeg Free Press

TOURS, France (AP) — Only prop Finlay Bealham’s availability in the Ireland squad is doubtful for next weekend’s blockbuster Rugby World Cup pool match against South Africa.

Bealham came on against Tonga as a half-time substitute on Saturday to rest tighthead Tadhg Furlong, but lasted just nine minutes before being taken off for a head injury assessment. Furlong returned to witness Ireland’s 59-16 victory in Nantes.

Bealham was still being assessed when Ireland assistant coach Mike Catt met the media on Sunday.

He said starting hooker Dan Sheehan will be available to face the Springboks next Saturday at the Stade de France after spraining a foot ligament four weeks ago in the warm-up win over England in Dublin.

“Dan has trained with us the last few days. He looks good,” Catt said. “(Monday’s training) is going to be very, very light anyway, so he will be able to do all the runs. We’re pretty sure he’ll be available for selection on Saturday.

“In terms of injuries we are in a good place. Tonga was always going to be a very tough game, a physical game. We’ve come through that relatively injury-free, which is fantastic. “Now it is about recovering and preparing for South Africa.”

England’s World Cup winner Catt coaches the Irish full-backs and has been impressed by South Africa’s willingness and ability to attack wide.

“Having Manie Libbok at 10, Damian Willemse at 15 and Willie le Roux are definitely getting the ball through their hands a little more and causing a lot of teams big problems. We are very aware of this, but we still have to try to stop it.

“South Africa have always been very aggressive in their defense and it has worked very, very well for them. It definitely puts your skills under pressure and is something we’ve been working on for the last few years.

“A lot more equipment is becoming more compact and coming with a lot more line speed. “There is still room, you just have to find it in different ways.”

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AP Rugby World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby