Irish prop John Hayes has been cleared to make his comeback against Romania in this weekend's opening round of World Cup matches after spending the last seven months on the sidelines.
Hayes has not played since March because of a calf problem, but Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan is keen to get him back on the field as quickly as possible.
Ireland open their World Cup campaign against Romania in Gosford next Saturday and O'Sullivan said Hayes is likely to start at tighthead.
"He has to have a first game back sometime and he is on track to start next week," O'Sullivan said this morning. "Match fitness is a bit of an issue and frontrowers tend to need game time, but he is still our starting tighthead and he is going to be crucial."
O'Sullivan said he would have a full complement of players to select his team from even though prop Marcus Horan failed to complete today's training session.
"Marcus Horan has a slight strain in his quad but is no concern, he should be fine. We just took him off as a precaution," O'Sullivan said.