Ireland fullback Rob Kearney has emerged as a major doubt for Ireland’s World Cup opener against Scotland on Sunday according to multiple reports.
It is understood that veteran fullback is set to miss the club with Scotland due to a calf injury he has sustained in training.
The injury could see the 33-year-old miss both the Scottish game and the ensuing match against Japan six days later.
Andrew Conway and Jordan Larmour could be in line for starts if the veteran is to miss the opener against Scotland. Larmour is more the more likely selection despite Conway's recent form on the wing.
Ireland have already lost centre Robbie Henshaw for opening game due to a hamstring injury. Henshaw was used at fullback against England during the Six Nations and despite having a below par game, he could have still been in the running for a start at 15 if Kearney is unable to feature.
The news doesn't get too much better with Keith Earls still a major doubt for the game due to an injury he picked up during the final warm up match.
Ireland will hold a press conference tomorrow, where an update on Kearney’s fitness will be revealed.
Ireland scrum coach Greg Feek said he was 'reasonably positive' about the prognosis of Henshaw's hamstring injury.
"I think it's reasonably positive in terms of what we saw (in training). Some of these guys - day by day, week by week - they can improve dramatically compared with the average human.
We'll just see how it goes in the next few days and then maybe reassess in the near future. It's still early days and we have hopes for next week."
On the fitness of fly-half Joey Carbery, who was injured in Ireland’s final warm-up game against Wales he said:
"Joey was running around today and he trained - he looked pretty good."
