irishtimes.com – Last Updated: Friday, January 21, 2011, 13:09

Rugby: The injury concerns continue to mount for Ireland coach Declan Kidney with the news that the Ospreys wing Tommy Bowe has been ruled out of tomorrow’s match against Toulon with an as yet unspecified knee problem.

Kidney has already lost Rob Kearney and Geordan Murphy from his back three for the Six Nations with long-term injuries while Luke Fitzgerald has only just returned to action following a lengthy lay-off of his own.

The potential absence of Bowe, who had been touted as a possible option at fullback, would merely serve to compound matters for Kidney and his management team.

The Ospreys have yet to confirm the exact nature of Bowe’s injury with their medical team due to carry out further tests in the coming days.

“We’ve withdrawn Tommy from this weekend’s game on medical grounds, pending further investigation and specialist opinion for a knee problem,” explained physio Chris Towers.

“Due to the onset of some recent symptoms we scanned him this week, which highlighted an issue that could potentially develop into something problematic. as such, we felt that it is in Tommy’s best interest to take these precautions.

“We have notified the Irish medical team, and following further investigations next week we should be able to establish the most appropriate course of treatment for the problem, and to confirm whether it will interfere with Tommy’s involvement in the Six Nations with Ireland.”

Ireland are due to open their Six Nations campaign against Italy in Rome February 5th.