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Published 10:17 18 Jun 2015 BST
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He was also in the side two weeks later when Joe Schmidt's men ended the autumn with a 100% record after a spectacular win over Australia. But two arm injuries severely limited his participation with club and country for the remainder of the season, with Ruddock missing out on both Six Nations glory and a Champions Cup semi-final against Toulon.
What is unfortunate for Ruddock is that the man he initially replaced, Chris Henry, has now returned to full-fitness and regained the form that saw him a regular in Schmidt's side during the victorious 2014 Six Nations campaign.
Captaining Emerging Ireland in the Tbilisi Cup this summer was meant to be his chance to remind the Ireland coach of his World Cup credentials but yet another arm injury, suffered during yesterday's 33-7 win over Uruguay, could have ended his hopes of competing in the marquee tournament.
“It’s early days, but he’ll go for an x-ray and the result of that x-ray will tell us where he is,” Clarke told Irish rugby after the game. “He’s had a knock there before, but I’m not the expert. It would be wrong to second guess the x-ray. I’ve concern for him as an individual, but he’s a resilient young man, he’ll bounce back. It rules him out of the rest of the tournament.”The back row is an insanely competitive area for the Irish team and even had he stayed fit, there is a good chance that Ruddock may have been one of the unlucky ones on selection day. As it stands, it looks like one of Jordi Murphy, Chris Henry and Tommy O'Donnell may miss out. Who would want to be the man who has to make that decision?
Munster legend speaks out on province’s new coaching appointment
He words matter. There has been huge controversy within Munster rugby over the appointment of Roger Randle, who is due to take over as a senior coach from Mike Prendergast ahead of next season. In 1997, the New Zealander was accused of rape while in Durban with the Hurricanes for a game against the Sharks. […]
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Not ideal. It’s worrying times for Munster rugby at the moment, with problems on and off the field. After being knocked out of both the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, controversy then surrounded the appointment of Roger Randle for next season, due to historic rape accusations. The New Zealander is coming in to replace senior […]
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