Ireland defence coach Andy Farrell has given a positive injury update on Jordi Murphy ahead of this Saturday's Pool A tie against Samoa.
The Ulster flanker suffered a rib injury during last Thursday's 35-0 win over Russia in Kobe, but the damage is not as bad as was initially feared.
Farrell has said the 28-year-old has responded well to treatment.
"He's a lot better. He's a lot better than we thought he would be anyway. He's shaped up really well.
"He's very comfortable walking around and we expect Jordi to be back training on Thursday.
The head coach-in-waiting said Murphy will be back training with the rest of the panel later this week.
"He's going to be available to train on Thursday - we select our teams in and around that so we'll stick to that.
"We're happy with how Jordi has pulled up, he was pretty sore after the game and after all the medical advice he's been given, he's in great spirits."
#RWC2019
Positive news for @Jordimurphy as he is back on the pitch. He’ll be managed this week and should resume full training on Thursday. #TeamOfUs #ShoulderToShoulder #IREvSAM pic.twitter.com/Jk8AlDNHw2— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) October 7, 2019
Murphy himself also spoke to the media today, and he said it's been a pretty crazy week.
"It's been an up and down week or so. I was delighted to be able to play last week [against Russia]. Obviously it was a bit short-lived but the damage isn't too bad so I'm hopeful I'll get another opportunity at some stage in this tournament to help the boys."
When asked if he thought his injury had ended his Rugby World Cup prematurely at first, Murphy said he had stayed optimistic about his chances.
"I didn't think it was over, I was just incredibly disappointed... I tried to play on but I just kind of knew that I wasn't adding anything to the team.
"You want to be adding things to the team all the time, you don't want to feel like you're not keeping up with everyone else - unfortunately, that was just the case at the time.
"I didn't really know what the final diagnosis was going to be but it's been positive so far so just building into this week and hoping to train fully on Thursday."
Farrell also gave an update on Munster fly-half Joey Carbery. The 23-year-old was withdrawn from the squad just before last week's 35-0 win over Russia.
"He's flying, he's in a great place, he's in the best place I've certainly seen him over the last few weeks.
"He was running around the training ground today like he had a spring in his step. He's in great spirits and he's ready to go."
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