Coach Eddie O'Sullivan remains confident that prop forward John Hayes will be fit for Ireland's opening match of the Rugby World Cup in Australia next month despite a four-month lay-off with a calf injury.
Hayes, who missed the June tour to Australia and the Pacific Islands, has yet to undergo a rigorous training session but the management insist they are not taking a risk by including him in the final squad.
"He's in good shape at the moment," said O'Sullivan. "We haven't pushed him too hard. We still have time on our side. I'm confident he'll be good to go once he gets on the ground in Australia. He's a crucial guy to us and so we're not going to rush him into any situation."
O'Sullivan, speaking at a press conference in Dublin today, warned his players there would be no sentiment during the World Cup and that several of them may return not having played a match.
O'Sullivan flies out with his 30-man squad on Monday and, with Ireland's four Pool A matches spread over a four-week period, he intends to play his first-choice 15 for the opening game against Romania on October 11th and stick with it.
Unlike group opponents Argentina, the Irish have no midweek fixtures and O'Sullivan hopes to make the most of their advantage.
"We're going to pick our strongest team for every game," he said. "They're a week apart so we're just going to get on with it and pick the best team every week and try to win every game.
"In some cases there are eight days between games and we've got to use that to our advantage and pick the best team we can every game. There's a distinct possibility that some of the players won't play a match and they are aware of it."
Wingers Shane Horgan and John Kelly are back in training after recovering from injury and captain Keith Wood took a full part in today's session at Terenure College after undergoing keyhole elbow surgery.
Earlier this week, the selectors called up Ulster utility back Paddy Wallace as a late replacement for centre Jonathan Bell and they have 10 further players on stand-by.
"If anything unforeseen happens, we have a contingency plan to get them out asap," said manager Brian O'Brien, who accepted that Wallace will provide specialist cover for Girvan Dempsey, the only recognised full-back in the squad.
"Denis Hickie could have played at full-back, so could Kevin Maggs or anybody if we were stuck, but in Paddy we've got a guy who a recognised full-back so it takes the extra bit of pressure off. He was just outside the cut and he went on the training camp to Bilbao so he has been with us all the time."
PA