Ireland v Australia: Stockdale, Furlong, Baird and Osborne injured

Jacob Stockdale, Tadhg Furlong, Ryan Baird and Jamie Osborne were ruled out of Ireland’s final autumn match against Australia on Saturday.

Ulster winger Stockdale (hamstring) and Leinster full-back Osborne (abductor) were forced to play during Saturday’s win over Fiji.

Speaking about Osborne’s injury, Ireland forwards coach Paul O’Connell said: ‘It’s a huge loss. Of course, he is very versatile on the bench, plays many different positions and is constantly developing and getting better.

“It’s a shame he’s not in the game. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious and he’ll come back to us soon.”

Leinster lock Ryan Baird was ruled out of the Fiji match with a head injury and prop Tadhg Furlong missed the entire autumn season with a hamstring problem.

O’Connell also confirmed that Dave Heffernan (Connacht), Nick Timoney (Ulster) and Jack Boyle (Leinster) have been released back to their clubs ahead of the return of the United Rugby Championship this weekend.

After bouncing back from defeat to the All Blacks with victories over Argentina and Fiji, Ireland host Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Saturday at 15:10 GMT.

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