First Cian Healy, now Tommy Bowe is all set to return home after a hand injury ended his Lions Tour in cruel fashion. It really has been a rotten week for the Irish contingent in the Lions squad.
The Ulster winger suffered what is being reported as a broken bone in his hand early in the second half of today’s clash with the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, a game in which Bowe had looked very sharp for the 45 minutes he was on the pitch.
The injury didn’t look good at the time and it looked even worse afterwards when Bowe emerged with his heavily bandaged hand in a sling and although official confirmation of Bowe’s injury has not yet come through, Warren Gatland confirmed that it did not look good and that he is already considering a replacement. If the picture above is anything to go by, poor Tommy already knew his fate.
Bowe has endured a rotten luck with injuries of late and has barely played for Ireland in the last two years because of a kidney problem and a serious knee injury suffered on Heineken Cup duty for Ulster late last year.
Like Cian Healy we can only hope that Bowe returns a stronger player from the experience and the only chink of light from an Irish perspective is that Simon Zebo will surely be near the top of the list of potential replacements for the stricken Ulster winger.
We feel for you Tommy, we really do.
