And it soon became clear that the disruption to Ireland’s plans for next week’s Six Nations opener against France was continuing apace. Even still, it was expected that Keenan had a strong chance of coming straight back into Ireland’s number 15 shirt. Cruelly, he suffered a thumb injury during Ireland’s first training session in Portugal yesterday afternoon. Two of the other men who have been vying for Ireland’s number 10 shirt have also spent time at fullback recently. Keenan’s injury and Aki’s ban mean they join a long list of unavailable players for Ireland’s trip to France.