Robbie Henshaw remains a major doubt for this Sunday's Six Nations showdown with France at the Aviva Stadium with the IRFU admitting on Tuesday that his recovery has been slower than hoped.
Henshaw's injury frustrations have continued in a stop-start spring. He missed the hard-fought win against Scotland in Murrayfield with a dead leg and didn't feature in the defeat of Italy last time out.
The Ireland squad reassembled on Monday evening and trained at Carton House this morning.
In a statement the IRFU said Henshaw is "improving more slowly than hoped" and will continue his rehab this week. With Ireland due to train again tomorrow and on Friday, it makes it unlikely that the versatile Leinster man will be fully ready for the French come Sunday afternoon.
Dan Leavy also looks likely to be unavailable. He's yet to play at all in this Six Nations due to a calf injury and is focusing on increasing his running volume outside of team training.
In more positive news Joey Carbery is moving well as he recovers from a hamstring problem and Andrew Conway is 100% after suffering cramp after the Italian win.
Joe Schmidt has no other headaches as his side look to keep alive their hopes of snatching the championship.
Follow Ireland v France on Sunday (kick-off 3pm) via the live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the News Now App, or listen live on RTÉ 2fm, with commentary from Michael Corcoran and Donal Lenihan.
