Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan is expected to be fully fit for next weekend's clash with South Africa, according to Andy Farrell.
The Leinster front row has been out of action since 19 August when he sprained foot ligaments against England.
Despite initial concerns, the 24-year-old has progressed well in his rehabilitation but tomorrow’s Pool B tie with Tonga in Nantes (8pm) comes too soon.
"He’s ticked all the boxes this week," said Farrell after naming his side to face the Ikale Tahi, in which Rónan Kelleher starts with Rob Herring on the bench.
"He had to get through set-piece stuff this week for the first time, scrummaging mainly, and he did half a session on Tuesday to see how the reaction was going to be, and a full session on Wednesday, and he’d no qualms to kick on for the rest of the week as well.
"He’ll be available for selection for next week."
Ireland, who defeated Romania last weekend, were also boosted by the return to fitness of Robbie Henshaw and Dave Kilcoyne, the duo both named on the bench after recovering from hamstring issues.
Ireland have been in camp for 12 weeks, playing three warm-up games and the pool opener against the Oaks.
The head coach said his team are about where they should be in terms of preparation.
Farrell said: "I think so, yeah. I mean, proof is in the pudding, I definitely think so.
"I think to start a competition against a side like Romania last week, it was a challenge within itself, because we wanted to, obviously, get out of that game and we did that.
"To score 80 points in any game, against any type of opposition is very hard to do - to stay on point throughout - but we managed to do that. We need to do that in a different kind of way this week."
The former Wigan star was also asked about his takeaways from the early World Cup games, which have seen victories for France over New Zealand and the Springboks over Scotland.
"You want us to tell you [the media], this is a press conference it goes out to the rest of the world," said the 48-year-old with a smile.
Ireland coach Andy Farrell and captain Johnny Sexton look ahead to Saturday's clash with Tonga in Nantes, with Farrell making just four changes to the side which tore Romania apart.#RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/HZXCOUjhWQ
— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) September 14, 2023
"I think some real good stuff, it’s all a bit of nerves I would have thought certainly in the first few games.
"What I take out of it more than anything was the strong teams that we always thought were going to be strong definitely are, and are in good form.
"There is always going to be surprises that are just around the corner and the teams that we know can surprise some of them might have been disappointed from last week and that’s what happens in competitions like this.
"You get another chance next week and the week after so those surprises, you’ve got to be ready for, there is no doubt about that. I think it was a good start to the competition and everyone is excited to roll it on to week two."
Captain Johnny Sexton starts again as Ireland bid to build on their 12-try rout of Romania last weekend.
"We want to improve in all areas; you talk about good attack, there is plenty of bad attacking in there," said the Lions out-half, who will retire at the end of the tournament.
"You talk about good defence, there is a mix through all aspects of our game.
"We always take every game apart, positives and negatives.
"And just with the mindset to try and get better, but also to next week, to just learn and give away silly penalties, a couple of bad kick offs, a couple of bad penalties, kicks out on the full, stuff like that, so lots of inaccuracies we hope to improve on this week, but then this week will bring up more challenges we’ll have to get right for the week after."
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