Ireland lose McCloskey but two back from injury

DUBLIN :Centre Stuart McCloskey has been ruled out of Ireland's final November international against South Africa, but Garry Ringrose and Josh van der Flier have both returned to full training and will be available for Saturday’s test.

A squad update on Monday also confirmed prop forward Thomas Clarkson passed all Head Injury Assessment protocols following Saturday’s game and is expected to train fully this week.

McCloskey had to go off after 27 minutes of Ireland’s 46-19 victory over Australia last Saturday, suffering a recurrence of a groin injury picked up in the defeat to New Zealand in Chicago earlier this month.

Centre Ringrose and back-row van der Flier have both recovered from hamstring strains, having missed the last two tests against Japan and Australia. Coach Andy Farrell is set to name his side to face the Springboks on Thursday.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; editing by Pritha Sarkar)