Tadhg Furlong, Caelan Doris and Jack Conan took full part in Irish training on Monday with Ireland management hoping that the three will have a chance of being fit to face France in Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Ireland are looking for their fourth win from four against the Antoine Dupont-led French team, having already beaten England, Scotland and Wales to secure the Triple Crown.
“Yeah, they took part in the session today and they’re all building back to full health, so we’ll see. The team is being named on Thursday,” said Irish scrum coach John Fogarty.
“We’ve just done scrums just now, so it was good to see Tadhg in a scrum, a fully-contested scrum. Tomorrow is the big day, but we did some entries today and it was good. So, we’ll see how he goes.”
“He has trained with Leinster, set-piece stuff. He’s been building the whole time back. It’s one that has to be right for everyone. From my end, it was great to see him back in a scrum, I haven’t seen him in a little bit. He was good.”
Following a recurrence of a calf injury, Furlong departed early from the Irish warm-weather training camp in Quinta do Lago, Portugal last month, while Doris sat out Ireland’s win over Wales in Cardiff. In the absence of the Irish number eight, hooker Dan Sheehan stood in as team captain for the first time.
“Tomorrow is our big day, you get through that and you’re healthy, then we’ll see. It’s a huge week, isn’t it?” said Fogarty. “So, you want to do right by the entire squad. You want to pick the best team you can and they’ll be monitored throughout the week. Get through tomorrow and if they’re good to go, they’re good to go.”
“Yeah, he [Doris] is a world-class player and he’s a great leader. So yeah, it would be huge. Again, he was on the field today, he trained well. Hopefully all going well, he trains tomorrow and gets through what he needs to.”
Rónan Kelleher was another one of Ireland’s key players who has been sidelined. The hooker injured his neck and like the others he is also in a race against time to be fit for a match that could set Ireland up for another Grand Slam. The final game takes place in Rome, when Ireland meet Italy on St Patrick’s weekend at Stadio Olimpico.
“He’s training with that neck,” said Fogarty of Kelleher’s problem. “He has got a bit of a neck issue from a stinger. He trained today, he’s another one … there’s a few … we are at that stage of the competition where it’s difficult. You’re managing some guys the whole time and he is someone that is being managed right now. Tomorrow is another training day and we’ll see.”
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