Hamstring injury rules O'Toole out of Ireland squad

Tom O'Toole has been ruled out of Ireland's Guinness Six Nations meeting with Italy on Sunday.

The Ulster tighthead suffered a hamstring injury in his province's United Rugby Championship win away to the Dragons at the weekend.

O'Toole is yet to feature in this year's Six Nations championship with Tadhg Furlong and Finlay Bealham ahead of him on the depth chart for the opening two games, although he was a traveling reserve against both Wales and France.

The 23-year-old has won two caps since last summer, but has consistently been involved in Farrell's squads across the last two years.

The IRFU have not confirmed a replacement for O'Toole in this week's squad to face Italy, with Furlong and Bealham expected to fill the tighthead spots, and Cian Healy and Andrew Porter both having experience in the position if needed.

Farrell will reveal his matchday 23 on Friday, with James Lowe and Jimmy O'Brien both linking up with the squad having impressed for Leinster in their 29-7 win against the Ospreys in Saturday.

Follow all of Ireland's Six Nations games via our live blogs on rte.ie/sport and on the RTÉ News App or listen to live radio coverage on RTÉ Radio 1. Highlights on Against the Head, Mondays, 8pm.