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<\/p>\nIreland centre Robbie Henshaw is expected to be unavailable until at least the semi-finals of the Rugby World Cup due to a hamstring injury.<\/p>\n
The Leinster centre sustained the issue in training this week, ruling him out of Saturday evening\u2019s pivotal Pool B clash with Scotland in Paris.<\/p>\n
Ireland will monitor Henshaw\u2019s fitness for the time being but head coach Andy Farrell is weighing up his options and could eventually make a change to his 33-man squad.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe pulled up with a hamstring unfortunately at the end of the session on Tuesday and the diagnosis with hamstrings, they want to see how things settle down,\u201d said Farrell.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt probably takes about five days for that type of thing to happen but it looks like it could be a minimum of a couple of weeks at this stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if Henshaw will remain in France, Farrell replied: \u201cObviously, we\u2019ll assess that as we go.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly he\u2019ll be around rehabbing and we\u2019ll see how the weekend goes with other injuries, etc, and assess how Robbie\u2019s going along the way also.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ulster\u2019s Stuart McCloskey has taken Henshaw\u2019s place among the replacements for this weekend\u2019s Stade de France showdown, while hooker Dan Sheehan and lock Iain Henderson have been selected ahead of benched pair Ronan Kelleher and James Ryan.<\/p>\n
Vice-captain Ryan suffered a wrist injury in Ireland\u2019s 13-8 success over South Africa a fortnight ago.<\/p>\n
Farrell insists the Leinster second row is fully fit and has trained well, including coming close to flattening captain Johnny Sexton on more than one occasion.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s fit,\u201d Farrell said of Ryan.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a bit of a niggle on a wrist but that\u2019s fine and he trained the house down, actually trained the best I\u2019ve seen him train in a good amount of years yesterday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe actually nearly took Johnny\u2019s head off three or four times so he\u2019s fit and raring to go, there\u2019s no doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ireland will progress to the knockout stages with a win or draw, while a defeat will leave them reliant on Scotland\u2019s margin of victory and bonus points gained.<\/p>\n
Farrell suggested the recalled Henderson, who came off the bench in the victories over Romania, Tonga and the Springboks, could be handy in calculating the permutations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to win,\u201d said Farrell. \u201cIt\u2019s a massive game. It\u2019s so important to us and certainly obviously to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut to the travelling fans and the people back home it\u2019s a huge game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have Iain Henderson in our group who is good at maths, so we\u2019re across everything as far as that\u2019s concerned.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the easiest way is to make sure that we perform well and deserve to win the game outright.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skipper Sexton will start for the fourth successive match following his return from injury and suspension at the beginning of the tournament, while flanker Peter O\u2019Mahony will win his 100th Ireland cap.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a knockout game,\u201d said 38-year-old fly-half Sexton.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve viewed it as a last 16, we\u2019ve spoken about it and that\u2019s why it\u2019s important we got our preparation right.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to go out and get our performance right now.\u201d<\/p>\n