England vs Ireland Six Nations clash suspended as referee suffers bizarre injury

The Six Nations clash between England and Ireland was halted for a few minutes after the referee picked up a bizarre injury

Andrea Piardi has been replaced by Pierre Brousset as referee in the Six Nations clash between England and Ireland after picking up a bizarre injury. E

xactly what happened to Piardi was initially unclear when he sat on the turf, however a conversation revealing his injury was captured on the microphones.

He was heard saying: “I heard it pop.” Then when chatting to captains Maro Itoje and Caelan Doris, Piardi revealed: “I’m out, my quad’s gone. Best of luck for the rest of the game. 29 minutes played.”

While the changes were made, which included Craig Maxwell-Keys getting promoted from fourth official to linesman, the game was suspended for a few minutes with the visitors 15-0 up at Twickenham.

READ MORE: England and Ireland coaches were involved in heated touchline clash during Six Nations tieREAD MORE: Awkward moment with Princess Anne and Six Nations star caught live on camera

With England a man down, after Freddie Steward’s yellow card, Ireland scored another a try through Tommy O’Brien just moments after play restarted.

Jamison Gibson-Park and Robert Baloucoune had got over the line earlier in the clash with Ireland dominating the opening proceedings.

JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! All the best sports news and much more on our dedicated Facebook page

That was even with a few missed conversions and penalties with England struggling significantly to get a foothold in the game.

England had more territory further forward as half-time approached and though a stubborn Irish defence held firm, they scored a try right on the interval through Fraser Dingwall with George Ford converting for an extra two points.

It has thus far been a disappointing Six Nations campaign for Steve Borthwick’s side with defeat in the Calcutta Cup against Scotland coming last weekend after a narrow win over Italy in their opener.

Regardless of four tries being scored, it was an action-packed 40 minutes with Jack Conan joining Piardi in going off injured.

Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. **Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings

It has thus far been an enthralling Six Nations campaign with Italy, Scotland, England and Ireland all currently on one win and one defeat, though that will change this weekend.

In terms of other games, Wales face Scotland later today while leaders France host Italy on Sunday afternoon at the Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille