Skipper Caelan Doris injured as Ireland suffer triple blow ahead of Wales clash

Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations title push has been hit by the loss of captain Caelan Doris for Saturday’s clash with Wales

And, in a further blow to Simon Easterby’s side, hooker Ronan Kelleher and prop Tadhg Furlong have also been ruled of the Cardiff showdown.

Doris has a knee issue while Kelleher and Furlong are sidelined with respective neck and calf problems.

Doris and Kelleher were injured in the the 32-18 rout of Scotland in round two, while Furlong has yet to appear in this Six Nations having also missed the autumn because of a torn hamstring.

The Championship’s only unbeaten side are optimistic that the absentees will recover in time for the March 8 title showdown with France.

“We’re hoping they’ll be available for France. They’re just going through their processes that they do with the physios, but they’re all making good progress,” attack coach Andrew Goodman said.

The loss of Doris means Ireland will have a new captain for the visit to the Principality Stadium and Goodman believes they are blessed for options.

“There’s some good leaders in the squad. The leadership group’s been growing well over the past couple of years and there’s a number of players who have captained their provinces, so we have some good options there,” he said.

Jack Conan is the likely stand-in for Doris at number eight, having made telling contributions as a high-impact replacement against England and Scotland.

Dan Sheehan looks set to step off the bench to fill the vacancy at hooker in what would be his first start since suffering a knee injury against South Africa last summer. Finlay Bealham will continue to deputise for Furlong at tighthead.

While Ireland march on seeking to become the first team to win three consecutive titles in the Six Nations era, Wales are in the grip of a crisis that resulted in Warren Gatland’s departure last week.

Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt has been placed in charge on an interim basis with the aim of avoiding a 15th successive defeat. On paper it is an almighty mismatch, but Goodman ruled out complacency creeping into the Ireland camp this week.

“No chance in this group,” he said. “The way the preparation has been from the playing group is as good as any other week.

“And when you look at the history of Ireland-Wales over the last 10 years over there, it hasn’t been a nice place for us to go on a number of occasions.

“We know they’re back at home and there will be a bit of a natural bounce with a new coach coming in, so I don’t think there’s any chance of any complacency from this group.”

Meanwhile, Ireland have announced that they will face New Zealand in Chicago on November 1.

The rivals will clash at Soldier Field in a repeat of their fixture at the same venue in 2016, when Ireland defeated the All Blacks for the first time in their history, prevailing 40-29.