Ireland’s John Fogarty: Maro Itoje absence would be huge loss for England

Ireland scrum coach John Fogarty admits Maro Itoje would be a major loss for England going into Saturday’s crunch Guinness Six Nations clash.

Towering Saracens lock Itoje has emerged as a doubt for the Twickenham showdown due to illness, with Wasps’ Joe Launchbury on standby.

Fogarty gave a wry smile when saying he hopes the 27-year-old recovers in time for a game which will result in the loser being eliminated from the championship title race.

“He’s another experienced player, he’s a difficult character to deal with because he’s so involved – he tries to have lots of involvements in the game,” Fogarty said of Itoje.

“He’s a huge strength of theirs. He’s a nuisance at times but he’s excellent. He would be a loss, of course.

“They’ve got some strength in depth and they’ve got some size; Launchbury is an excellent player, he’s got lots of experience and adds something different as well. But sure, he (Itoje) would be a loss.”

Smiling, Fogarty added: “Let’s hope he’s all right.”

England remain optimistic Itoje will be fit to feature.

Fogarty does not expect the potential absence of one of the opposition’s star men to have a significant impact on Irish preparations.

“I think at this stage now, what our plan is, how we want to put it out there, it’s not going to affect us,” he said.

“That happens from time to time, players drop out. It won’t have a major impact on how we’re preparing to start tomorrow.”

We're very clear on what we need to do and physicality is something we've addressed during the week. We're good.- Ireland scrum coach John Fogarty

After declaring Ireland “red-hot favourites”, England head coach Eddie Jones later threw down the gauntlet by questioning their ability to handle the hosts’ physicality.

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