The hamstring injury to Robbie Henshaw is looking 'reasonably positive', according to scrum coach Greg Feek.
There were doubts as to whether Henshaw would be available for a large portion of the Rugby World Cup in Japan, but it appears that scans on the injury have borne good news.
"Robbie is looking unlikely for this weekend [...] but it is reasonably positive, in terms of what we saw," said Feek.
"Some of these guys, day-by-day and week-by-week, things can improve dramatically [compared] to the average human. We will just take it at the moment."
"It is looking positive, so from here on in we see how it goes and reassess in the not-too-distant future," Feek said.
On alternatives to Henshaw, Feek was positive that an extended period together will bode well for Ireland.
"Our collective has been something that we pride ourselves on, and we back everybody to fill a spot. The beauty of this time every four years is that you get a full pre-season together, so everybody knows their roles really well."
Henshaw appears to be champing at the bit to get back to action with Ireland almost immediately.
"I know what game he'll be targeting! It is still early days - we still have hopes for next week, and we will just go day-by day."
The news comes after Joe Schmidt spoke yesterday of Henshaw's situation, which appeared to potentially be
“I think the fact that he pulled up - he wasn’t accelerating at the time - means we’d be hopeful it’s not too bad. Is it likely to rule him out of this week? Yeah, you’d have to say it is likely.
“It could be a cramp. We have travelled a lot. We have tried to be fully rehydrated, fully recovered.
"But if it is more than that and we do need to leave him out this week, we feel we have good cover.”
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