Ireland's Rugby World Cup opener is now just five days away and it's fair to say excitement is hitting dangerous levels around these parts. The defeats to Wales and England may have softened some lofty expectations but that's not necessarily a bad thing.
We're going in with confidence rather than all out expectancy and that's the story we're sticking to. And in line with that confidence, there's some very welcome news coming out of the Ireland camp today.
Team manager Mick Kearney was charged with delivering the injury update and it was resoundingly positive with confirmation that all 31 players are fit and raring to go.
That means that both Conor Murray and Rob Kearney have overcome the knocks that disrupted their warm-up campaign. And, as many will have twigged, Cian Healy will also be available for selection to face Canada on Saturday.
Healy has not played since undergoing neck surgery in May and there had been worries that he may not be fully fit until the latter end of the group stage. Having him available for France in particular was what we all wanted but knowing that he can go into that game with minutes under his belt against the likes of Canada and Romania is very welcome indeed.
