Pool opener.

Ireland were dealt a blow over the weekend when it emerged that Robbie Henshaw damaged his hamstring in training, ruling him out of their World Cup opener with Scotland on Sunday.

But the good news is he set to stay on in Japan, with no replacement being called up for now. Instead, Ireland will monitor the centre closely with the hope that he can recover in time to play a role in other games.

Keith Earls is another man who has been struggling with injury for a number of weeks now. Like Henshaw, he made his return to action in Ireland’s final warm-up game with Wales, but failed to complete that game after picking up a fresh injury.

But once again it’s not all doom and gloom. Earls is expected to return to training this week, but it could be as late as Friday before we seem him back out on a pitch meaning it’s unlikely we’ll see him feature against Scotland too.

Elsewhere though, Ireland have a fully fit squad to choose from, with even Joey Carbery expected to be fit in time the take his place on the bench for the Scotland game. And with that being said, here’s the team we reckon will take on Gregor Townsend’s side.

Predicted Ireland team vs Scotland

15. Rob Kearney
14. Andrew Conway
13. Garry Ringrose
12. Bundee Aki
11. Jacob Stockdale
10. Johnny Sexton
9. Conor Murray

1. Cian Healy
2. Rory Best (c)
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Iain Henderson
5. James Ryan
6. Peter O’Mahony
7. Josh van der Flier
8. CJ Stander

Replacements:
16. Sean Cronin
17. Dave Kilcoyne
18. John Ryan
19. Tadhg Beirne
20. Jack Conan
21. Luke McGrath
22. Joey Carbery
23. Jordan Larmour