O'Connell making 'good progress'

Paul O'Connell remains hopeful of featuring against Wales next weekend with reports from the Irish camp claiming his recovery from a shoulder injury is making 'good progress'.

The Munster lock, Ireland's outstanding performer in the Six Nations to date, will train with the rest of the squad today and tomorrow before coach Eddie O'Sullivan names his starting line-up on Wednesday afternoon.

O'Connell sustained an A/C shoulder joint strain during the defeat in Paris and despite a making a rapid recovery last week, was said to be only 50-50 for the match at Lansdowne Road over the weekend.

However, the Irish medical staff assessed the injury again this morning and gave the 26-year-old the all-clear to resume training.

"Paul is now pain free in the shoulder and has progressed at a very pleasing rate," explained team doctor Gary O'Driscoll.  "If Paul’s rehab continues on this present curve, we are reasonably confident that he will be available for the weekend".

Should O'Connell fail to recuperate in time, his Munster colleague Donncha O'Callaghan is likely to partner Malcolm O'Kelly in the secondrow with another Munster man, Mick O'Driscoll, expected to be named on the replacements bench.

O'Driscoll was one of nine players drafted into the Irish squad for training this week with Marcus Horan - who missed the defeat against France through illness  - and the experienced Leinster backs Denis Hickie and Girvan Dempsey also involved.

Matt McCullough, Jamie Heaslip, Neil Best, Robert Kearney and Barry Murphy are the other players O'Sullivan has called upon.