This is exactly what we wanted to hear.
Joe Schmidt has delivered positive updates on the fitness of Cian Healy, Marty Moore and Andrew Trimble.
All three, if fit and firing, would be expected to start for Ireland during the pool stage matches.
While there is plenty of cover in case Trimble falters, the propping pool is not as abundant.
Schmidt has revealed that Healy could play some part in Ireland’s final World Cup warm-up game, against England, on September 5.
The Ireland coach commented, ‘Cian is really picking up; he’s doing really well. He trained fully Tuesday and Thursday, he did all the contact.
‘He’s a lot more positive about where potentially he can get to in the next week or two or three weeks. That gives us a bit of confidence as well. He’s going to keep working. He’s obviously not involved this week but I wouldn’t rule next week out.’
‘The way he’s going, I wouldn’t rule out some involvement [against England],’ Schmidt added.
‘If he is involved, it would most likely be off the bench and we’d be looking to maybe give him 20 minutes. But then we’re also prepared to be patient and I guess the challenge for him is to stand by and watch Jack McGrath and Dave Kilcoyne, and let them put their hands up again.’
Marty Moore is out of his protective boot and trained with the squad today, as did Andrew Trimble.
‘Andrew played really well in the 34 minutes against Wales but, with that being the only 34 minutes he has played in eight months, we wanted him to get somewhere between 40 and 60 minutes [with Ulster].
‘If we put him on the bench for us, he’d only get about 20 minutes. We think it is a better opportunity for him to prove he is back to full fitness.’
Tommy Bowe, Andrew Trimble [both Ulster], and Gordon D’Arcy, Fergus McFadden, Michael Bent, and Jack Conan [Leinster] will all line-out in pre-season matches with their provinces this weekend.
Interestingly, Schmidt noted that some of the matchday 23 he selected, today, are likely to miss out on the World Cup party.
