Ireland hoping for the Best with unwell captain

Ireland are confident captain Rory Best will recover from a stomach upset to face Italy in the Six Nations on Saturday.

Best missed the training run at the Stadio Olimpico on Friday and James Tracy has been drafted into the squad as cover.

But Ireland forwards coach Simon Easterby expects the hooker to win his 102nd cap in Rome, where Joe Schmidt’s men will be expected to secure their first win of the tournament following a defeat against Scotland last weekend.

“Rory has had a bit of a stomach upset overnight, he didn’t sleep particularly well,” said Easterby.

“So we’ve left him to rest. You can’t predict that, but we’ve left him back in the hotel when we did the team run. Hopefully he’ll be okay with a bit of sleep and rest now. James Tracy will be joining the squad now.

“I think there’s always things that crop up in the course of the week that you have to deal with. How we react and respond to it will hopefully allow us to continue the preparation as seamlessly as possible.

“We’re confident that he will recover in time.”

Easterby revealed that the uncapped Niall Scannell will start if Best is ruled out.