Ireland 'hopeful' Tadhg Furlong will feature in Six Nations

Ireland are hopeful that Tadhg Furlong will be fit to take some part in this year's Guinness Six Nations, following a recurrence of his calf injury.

The Leinster tighthead left Ireland's warm-weather training camp in Portugal on Sunday, having been ruled out of this Saturday’s opening game against England in Dublin.

Furlong has been troubled by a series of soft-tissue injuries in recent seasons, and missed all four of Ireland’s Autumn Nations Series games in November with hamstring and calf injuries.

In total, the 32-year-old missed close to three months with those issues before returning for Leinster’s Investec Champions Cup win against La Rochelle just over two weeks ago, and he has played just three times this season.

However, IRFU performance director David Humphreys says they are hopeful this latest setback won’t rule him out for the entire championship.

"It's certainly not as significant as it was then [in November], and we would hope to see him back playing in the Six Nations," Humphreys said from Ireland’s Algarve training camp.

In Furlong’s absence, Finlay Bealham looks set to win his 49th cap in the starting team this weekend against England, while Leinster’s Thomas Clarkson and Connacht’s uncapped Jack Aungier looking to fill a spot on the bench.

Furlong recently signed a two-year contract extension with the IRFU, keeping him at Leinster until the summer of 2027.

And Humphreys says he remains as important as ever to their plans.

"You know how central Tadhg has been to Ireland's success over the last 10 years. Yes, there's no doubt that as any player gets older there's an increased risk of injury.

"But, he worked incredibly hard with the medical team over the course of the last few weeks to get back for the La Rochelle