Ireland head coach Andy Farrell says there's no guarantee that all 41 available members of his squad will feature across the Rugby World Cup warm-up games.
The Six Nations champions began preparations for next month's tournament with a comfortable, but at times patchy, win against Italy on Saturday, with further games to come against England and Samoa before the squad is cut down to a final group of 33.
It was a largely experimental side that took to the field against Italy on Saturday night, with Ciarán Frawley, Calvin Nash and Tom Stewart making their debuts off the bench, while the likes of Cian Prendergast, Joe McCarthy and Caolin Blade all featured for their second Irish caps.
With Johnny Sexton suspended and unavailable for the remaining warm-up matches, it leaves 18 players looking to pick up game time before the opening match of the tournament against Romania in Bordeaux on 9 September in Bordeaux.
The majority of that group are frontline internationals who look all but certain to make the final squad, barring injury.
Ross Byrne, Gavin Coombes, Kieran Treadwell and the uncapped Jamie Osborne look like being the obvious names who will be hoping to earn a chance to shine before the final squad is named in late August.
And while forwards coach Paul O'Connell said there was a good chance every member of the squad would see some game time over the coming weeks, Farrell has insisted he won't be handing out caps for the sake of it.
"No, just take it [selection] as it is," he said after Saturday's 33-17 win.
"Watch training, judge everyone accordingly, getting the right balance, ensuring that people have enough game time and that people that deserve a chance will get a chance.
"But it is about making sure that we prepare the 33 to be ready for the World Cup."
At times when the TV cameras looked towards Farrell in the coaches' box on Saturday, the Ireland boss appeared quite frustrated with the stop-start nature of the Irish performance.
However, he admitted it's understandable the team weren't firing on all cylinders after the summer layoff, combined with so many changes from the regular line-up.
"I will probably wake up tomorrow and go, 'well what is it that you are after really?'
"I mean, the amount of times we had opportunities and didn't convert. I suppose that's frustrating but at the same time, am I being greedy in thinking we should have scored another four or five tries?
"If that's the case, if we find ourselves in that situation to do that, there has got to be some good in that as well.
"I think it is a little bit frustrating in converting, getting in our own way from time to time a little bit, but on reflection it's to be expected with juggling around the side and being the first game.
"We are five weeks off the start of the competition so we are up and running.
"I'd say could do better and we certainly will."
Ireland will head for a training camp in Portugal this week, with an update expected on the injuries sustained by Jack Conan, Craig Casey and Jimmy O'Brien, who all departed the win against Italy with knocks.
The Ireland head coach was also coy last week when asked if he would trim down his squad of players bit by bit over the coming weeks, rather than make one cut at the end of the month.
And he says it will be a collaborative process between he and the rest of the coaching team.
"It's good that when we have difference of opinions because we argue it out and then see what’s right for the group.
"The coaches have all got an opinion certainly in their areas and it’s up to them to put it on the table and for us to argue it out and make sure we pick the squad that is right for the group together. That type of stuff is daily, so I don’t think that type of stuff is a shock for us.
"Biggest sticking points? I don’t think there is [one], I mean over the coming weeks things will be more clearer, making sure you feed back as that goes and we’ll get to a point where that we got the best 33 on the plane.
"Obviously you’ve got an idea now, and what happens in the next three weeks will change that as well, I would have thought," Farrell added.
Watch live coverage of Ireland's Rugby World Cup warm-up games v England (19 August) and Samoa (26 August) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio, or follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app.
