Tom Stewart gets big chance to impress as worries grow over Sheehan and Kelleher

"He’s good, yeah," said Farrell of Sheehan, who lasted 36 minutes against England. He’s got a sprain in his foot, in a ligament in his foot... He has a sprain in his foot, better than expected; should be fit for the World Cup."

Asked if he would be fit to face Romania, on September 9, Farrell replied, "We’ll see how he progresses over the coming weeks but, as I said, with all injuries you see how they develop over the period of time, don’t you. But we expect him to be fit for the World Cup."

"As far as Ronan is concerned," Farrell continued, "he is doing great. He is flying around the place at this moment in time - this week. If it was, at a push, for him - say a World Cup semi-final or final - we're sure we could have got him over the line this week, but there's no need to do that. He's in good spirits."

Tom Stewart gets another chance to impress

Andy Farrell will name his Ireland squad to for the World Cup on Monday (August 28) and hooker is the area of greatest concern.

Another area of focus, although this is more a matter of having an abundance of options, is centres. Stuart McCloskey is a specialist 12 and may have to show what he cam do (again) against Samoa to press his case for selection.

Asked if Farrell had any specific messages for McCloskey or Tom Stewart, ahead of his first Test start, the Ireland coach said:

"There’s no message, the messages have been over the last 10 weeks of how we prepare to be the best team you possibly can be, how you adjust and adapt to that is the pressure of playing top level rugby so they know that and they’ll push forward with that in mind."