Robbie Henshaw was a notable absentee from Ireland's lineup against Canada in the opening Rugby World Cup game of Pool D. Joe Schmidt said after the team was announcement that Henshaw had a hamstring strain, and was being held back as a precaution.
Now though, Ireland manager Mick Kearney has given a more positive update, saying that Henshaw is likely to play against Romania in Ireland's next game on Sunday.
Robbie is good, he is progressing through his rehab. The expectation is that he will be available for selection for the Romania game on Sunday. The expectation is that he will train this week.
Schmidt also indicated that Darren Cave will play next week. Cave was also suprisingly excluded from the team, especially once the news of Henshaw's injury came through. Fitzgerald was the man chosen to play at 12, and the Leinster man put in a great shift creating space for those outside him.
Meanwhile, Johnny Sexton has said that Japan's amazing victory over South Africa makes Ireland feel a lot better about their opening win:
It was great. It made our performance and our result a lot better, seeing a team like Japan beat South Africa. We obviously could have been on the end of it a couple of hours earlier. The way we prepared and approached the game was really good, but we saw the flip side of what can happen in this competition if you take your eye off the ball. The gap is narrowing.
It gives everyone a boost and anything can happen in this tournament, which is great, and it has given us an alarm call.
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Picture credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE