O'Driscoll set for scan today
Ireland skipper Brian O'Driscoll will undergo a scan on his hamstring tear on Monday but is expected to return in time for the summer tour.
O'Driscoll was forced off late in the second half of Saturday's 16-12 RBS 6 Nations defeat by Wales and a date for his comeback will be confirmed on Monday afternoon.
Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan believes the injury will sideline the Leinster centre, who will miss the championship finale against England at Twickenham, for up to eight weeks.
That prognosis would allow him to figure in the June Tests against New Zealand and Australia.
"I don't think Brian will miss out against the All Blacks and Wallabies," said O'Sullivan. "We don't know how bad the injury is but I don't think it's too serious.
"I think he'll be gone for six to eight weeks, but that's a guess."
In a worrying trend for O'Driscoll, it is the third time he has sustained the same injury during similar incidents.
"He got hit when stripping the ball - his stock and trade - and his foot splayed," added O'Sullivan. "The same thing happened to him in Rome three years ago and also for Leinster during a Heineken Cup (game)."
O'Driscoll's injury compounded a wretched weekend for Ireland, who saw their faint Six Nations title hopes dashed.
They now face a battle for third place, with failure to prevail at Twickenham condemning them to a fourth-place finish - their worst performance since 1999 when they finished last.
Such a conclusion would compound an abysmal season for Ireland, who began hurtling off the rails at the World Cup and show few signs of getting back on track.
O'Sullivan believes with the margin between success and failure so narrow, matches are often decided by a single error - with his side being punished ruthlessly.
"Defences are dominating the game a lot more. It's about not giving up scores and we paid the ultimate price against Wales for one lapse," he said.
"That's it - the championship is over because of one lapse. We had some good line-breaks against Wales and they were happy to give away some penalties because of that.
"The classic one was Martyn Williams' yellow card for taking out Eoin Reddan. Looking at the tape again, Reddan would have been under the sticks had he followed that line.
"Williams knew that and, to be fair to him, it was a good penalty. I don't hold that against him, Martyn is a smart player.
"It's not pretty and you can't blame the players for the way the game is going."
