Hooker Rónan Kelleher has declared himself "fighting fit" as Ireland boss Andy Farrell looks set to have a full squad to select from for Saturday's World Cup match against Romania in Bordeaux (2.30pm Irish time).
Leinster front row Kelleher had been out of action with a hamstring injury but speaking to the media this afternoon from the team’s base in Tours, he issued a positive update.
"I’m fighting fit and ready to go," said the 25-year-old, who alongside Dan Sheehan and Rob Herring is one of three hookers in the squad.
"I’ve been training fully and I’m just raring to get going now. I had a few little niggles there over the last couple of weeks but fit now and ready to go."
Back row Jack Conan (foot), prop Dave Kilcoyne (hamstring) and Sheehan (foot) have all been in rehab over the last month.
Kelleher, who has 21 caps, missed all three warm-up games, while Sheehan limped off in the win over England.
His recovery was ahead of schedule, Farrell said last week, but Sheehan would be unlikely to be rushed back against the Oaks, ranked 19th in the world, for the Pool B opener.
Scrum coach John Fogarty said that "no one is ruled out".
"We’ve got some brilliant people assisting the fellas through their programmes and we’ve got a healthy group.
"We’re so lucky to have such talented hookers. They’re aware that they’re in a competition with each other. It’s always been that way."
Kelleher added: "There’s obviously two ways of looking at it. You’d be thinking 'maybe I haven’t got a couple of games under the belt, which I would have liked’, but at the same time my body feels unbelievably healthy, so it’s great.
"You very rarely go into matches feeling 100% healthy. For me personally, first World Cup, really looking forward to it.
"It’s been unfortunate really, just unlucky, but the medics have done some job getting us all back fit and it’s just about staying on top of it now that we’re out here."
Sheehan was Farrell and Leinster's first choice hooker last season, while Ulster’s Herring has been a consistent back-up, most recently steadying the ship as a replacement against Samoa.
Kelleher (above) conceded he is playing catch-up in the battle for a starting jersey.
"Maybe a little bit, yes," said Kelleher.
"But we know it’s an 80-minute game. You’re going to have to do a job. You know there’s plenty of game time to go around.
"It’s about making sure you’re ready no matter if you’re selected to start or if you’re selected to come off the bench to finish strong. Everyone has a role to do in those 80 minutes.
"It can only be a positive thing for Irish rugby and us two as well that we’re constantly driving each other on and competing for that number 2 jersey."
Ireland's players are primed to deal with the baking heat of Bordeaux in their Rugby World Cup opener, according to Fogarty.
Temperatures are forecast to reach 36 degrees Celsius when the world’s number one side launch their Pool B campaign against Romania.
Andy Farrell’s men are this week training in similar conditions at their base in Tours and were given a taste of things to come at the tournament during warm-weather camps in the Algarve and Biarritz.
"Certainly I’m struggling in the heat but we’ve had a brilliant pre-season," said Fogarty.
"We’ve been to Portugal, it was nice and warm there. We’ve been down in Biarritz and on Saturday it’s (going to be) a pretty hot day.
"It’s certainly going to play its part at 3pm in Bordeaux but we feel we have stressed the players in that and there’s some really good strategies around how we’re going to deal with it.
"It’s certainly a factor but we feel we’re ready."
Watch France v New Zealand (Friday 8.15pm), Australia v Georgia (Saturday 5pm), England v Argentina (Saturday 8pm) and Japan v Chile (Sunday 12pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player this weekend.
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Watch live coverage of Ireland v Tonga (Saturday 16 September) and South Africa (Saturday 23 September) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, listen on RTÉ Radio 1 or follow our live blogs on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News app.
