Banahan and Easter wait for England news on Tindall

The official citing officer for England’s 22-16 victory over Scotland concluded Banahan had no case to answer for the clash which led to Kelly Brown being stretchered off.

Banahan had always denied leading with the forearm as he ran into Brown’s attempted tackle, shortly after coming off the bench at Twickenham.

The 6ft 7in Bath player is the leading candidate to fill Tindall’s boots at outside centre against Ireland, should the England captain be ruled out with ankle ligament damage.

There were no positive signals emanating from the England medics, who yesterday referred Yorkshireman Tindall to an ankle specialist to analyse the results of an MRI scan.

The Rugby Football Union are not planning to make an official announcement about Gloucester centre Tindall’s availability until Martin Johnson names his team tomorrow.

If Tindall is forced to miss the trip to Dublin, No 8 Nick Easter would be the leading candidate to take over the captaincy.

“Losing Mike would be a blow and especially so for Mike himself after what he has done for the team,” said Johnson.

“But leadership is one part of our game that has really developed over the last 12 months.

“If Mike is not fit to go, then the guys will just crack on.

“Matt did really well in that position when he came on, while the leadership within the group has been sound.”

Tomas O’Leary has been ruled out of Ireland’s side after sustaining an eye injury.

O’Leary, who was in contention for the scrum-half duties, was the victim of a freak accident in training and will be sidelined for between two to three weeks.

A statement released by the IRFU read: “He was undergoing speed training with a sled when one of the straps failed, recoiled and struck him in the left eye. This caused a bleed within the eye which affected his vision.”

Eoin Reddan’s availability has also yet to be determined after he was concussed during the opening minute of the 19-13 defeat by Wales. He has recovered well and will see a neurologist this week to assess when he is able to return.

Ireland name their team to face England at lunchtime today.

Prop Adam Jones, who has played only 20 minutes of rugby since mid-January, has joined the Wales squad for the trip to France after Craig Mitchell suffered a dislocated shoulder during the 19-13 victory over Ireland.