Andy Farrell insists that Joey Carbery is "fit as a fiddle" and ready to go for the start of the Six Nations.
It means that Ireland boss Farrell has three out-halves to select from his squad for the championship opener against Wales on Saturday week, with Munster no 10 Carbery fighting it out with Jack Carty for a place on the bench to provide cover for skipper Johnny Sexton.
Carbery underwent surgery for an elbow injury he suffered in Munster's rousing Champions Cup victory at Wasps in early December.
He hasn't played since but speaking last Sunday, his provincial head coach Johann van Graan said that the ex-Leinster starlet was back in full training and Farrell confirmed at today's Six Nations media launch that Carbery is available.
"Joey has been keeping fighting fit from week two after his injury to his elbow, so he's fit as a fiddle," said Farrell.
"He has been doing all the ball skills etc, constantly. and the only thing he has had to wait is to get the all-clear to get back into contact and he's had that now so it's all systems go."
The main concern for Farrell heading into the Aviva Stadium clash on February 5 is the fitness of Iain Henderson.
The Ulster captain hasn't played since suffering an ankle injury while playing for his province just before Christmas.
However with Ireland heading to Portugal for a training camp tomorrow, Farrell confirmed that Bundee Aki, Josh van der Flier, Tadhg Furlong and James Ryan would be training fully in the coming days.
"To sum it up, we expect everyone bar Iain Henderson to be training fully with us by the end of the week," said the Ireland boss.
"Iain Henderson, that's not to say he's out of the Wales game yet, we'll take it day by day and see how we go."
Farrell added that James Lowe, who suffered a muscle injury in training with Leinster on the eve of last week's squad announcement, was "gutted" to miss out after a big November in the green shirt.
Sexton admitted that getting Covid-19 just as he was returning from injury "knocked him" for two weeks.
"My body is OK, I had a frustrating couple of months, post the New Zealand game," the 36-year-old said.
"Injuries, managed to pick up Covid as well so that knocked me for 10 days to two weeks so it was not an ideal prep.
"But thankfully over the last few weeks I was able to step up in training and get back on the field unscathed.
"Obviously, the first game back was a European game so I blew the lungs out on that.
"It was a shock to the system but I felt much better last week and hopefully now we’ll train hard this week and it will be another good step in my preparation and I know I need to train well to earn my place in the team and that’s more my focus is getting as fit and ready as possible to challenge for that spot.
"We only came together yesterday and we had a good few meetings to get organised. There's new faces and you're always going to hear new voices.
"Straight away guys are asking questions and that's what keeps the environment fresh, guys that deserve to be here and play really well for their provinces and get rewarded for that."
Asked if bringing the uncapped Michael Lowry and Mack Hansen on board, two back three players who have been exciting to watch this season, brought some 'fun' to the camp, Sexton responded: "It adds fun, and it adds quality as well, the two lads have been playing brilliantly for their provinces and that's why they're here.
"I don't think they're picked for being fun. They add that youthful excitement and add a lot of energy to the squad.
"You can see that already in how they've prepared over the course of yesterday.
"It's great to have new faces in, in the years we've been successful we've always had new people in, pushing the guys that have the jersey from the previous campaign, and creating an environment where there is competition for places."
Connacht's Cian Prendergast is another new face in the squad as he is on board as a development player this week.
"I hope that he finds out how we work, I hope he finds out a little bit more about himself, how to perform at an international camp," said Farrell.
"To get in the room, we see potential, he's got a phenomenal work rate and he's got a bit of fire in his belly as well, his fundamentals are pretty good for a back row forward.
"It's something we've done in the past and hope that giving these lads the experience can help grow our squad in the future."
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