E-mail Article Print-Friendly Version Contact Us Subscribe to RSS Feed

Buckley replaces Best

Best: 'A quietly spoken guy that everybody loves'

Munster prop Tony Buckley has been called up to the Ireland squad as a replacement for Simon Best,who fell ill on Wednesday evening.

Best was rushed to Bordeaux's Pellegrin Hospital on Wednesday night after developing a loss of sensation down his right side.

The Ulster prop also complained of a mild headache and a difficulty in speaking and underwent a series of tests, including an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan, a CT (computerised tomography) and an angiogram.

The tests were repeated on Thursday morning and the 29-year-old was then transferred to the nearby Haut Leveque - one of France's leading cardiological hospitals - for further investigation.

As yet doctors have been unable to make a clear diagnosis on Best's condition and Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan has refused to speculate on the nature of the condition.

"There is a certain amount of concern because there isn't a diagnosis at this stage and I suppose that's the worrying thing," he said.

"I wouldn't speculate on what Simon's condition is and I don't think anyone should speculate about it at this point. It would be wrong for everybody, including his family.

"We don't have a diagnosis and hopefully it's nothing serious - hopefully it might be something very, very small.

"In the meantime we have to keep our fingers crossed."

Buckley will depart for France as soon as possible with Best's Ulster team-mate Bryan Young stepping up to fill the vacancy on the bench for Sunday's crunch encounter with Argentina.

A decision on who will start at hooker in the Pool D finale will be made later on Thursday with Rory Best (dislocated thumb) and Jerry Flannery (shoulder stinger) undergoing fitness tests.

The condition of Rory Best's brother may well affect O'Sullivan's decision on who wears the number two jersey.

"Rory's a bit upset with the news but he knows that Simon is in the best possible hands and that everything has been done for him," he said.

"At this stage it's just a case of waiting to find what the problem is. I spoke to Rory at lunch and he was ready to train this afternoon."

O'Sullivan was visibly shaken by the latest setback in Ireland's disappointing World Cup and revealed Best's wife and family were headed to Bordeaux to join the Ulster skipper.

"Simon has been around for a long time and he's one of these quietly spoken guys that everybody loves," he said.

"So it's a shock for everybody that something like this can happen.

"Simon was in downtown Bordeaux yesterday afternoon with his good friend Paddy Wallace, just strolling around the city centre, when he felt this coming on.

"He called our team doctor [Gary O'Driscoll], we got him back to our hotel immediately and then we moved him to the hospital straight away. He's been in hospital since.

"Simon's wife is en route here at the moment. His dad will be here tomorrow [Friday]. He will be going home at some stage so, obviously, we want family travelling with him.

"We have an issue that we didn't expect to have with one of our friends, one of our family.

"There's no timeframe. Gary O'Driscoll has been with him since this happened and he's keeping us updated.

"But now that he's moved hospital I suspect that there won't be any news until they've done further tests. That could take a number of hours, I don't know."