Andy Farrell confirms Dan Sheehan is 'good' for the World Cup

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has confirmed that hooker Dan Sheehan will play a part in the upcoming Rugby World Cup in France.

Sheehan has been seeing a specialist in Dublin for a foot injury he picked up in the friendly win against England last week.

There have been fears that Sheehan would miss Ireland's pool games against Tonga, Scotland, South Africa, and Romania. That will not be the case, confirmed Farrell on Thursday.

"He's good, yeah," said Farrell. "He's got a sprain in his foot, in a ligament in his foot.

"That's better than expected; we expected it to be (more serious). He should be fit for the World Cup.

"We'll see how he progresses over the coming weeks. As with all injuries, we'll see how it develops over the period of time, but we expect him to be fit for the World Cup."

🚨 Andy Farrell gives update on Dan Sheehan's foot injury.

All Irish fans... you may now take a deep sigh of relief.

"We expect him to be fit for the World Cup."@VodafoneIreland | #TeamOfUs pic.twitter.com/BV8mjV7lXA

— Off The Ball (@offtheball) August 24, 2023

Ireland will play Samoa this weekend at the Stade Jean-Dauger, Bayonne, in their final game. There is an orange weather warning for extreme high temperatures in the region. Farrell is welcoming the challenge of it and believes that the game could give his side ample experience on how to deal with the other teams in their pool if the same problems arise next month.

"This is a great week for us, as in mimicking the weeks that could be coming up for us in all sorts of different ways," Farrell added. "Between the Romania game and the Tonga game, the heat could still be around, which it certainly is this week.

“There's plenty of distractions which there's definitely going to be in the World Cup. Walking around on a day off, you feel like you’re on holiday, so that isn't how you prepare for a Test match.

“So there are plenty of distractions. The same referee (Wayne Barnes has the whistle for the Tonga game on September 16), a night match which is later than normal for us, so this is a brilliant week to see how we cope with all those bits.

Farrell will announce his final 33-player squad for the World Cup on Monday, August 28.

Before that, Ireland will play Samoa on Saturday at 7.45 pm.

The match will be broadcast live on RTÉ2 in the Republic of Ireland and on Amazon Prime in the UK and Northern Ireland.

Ireland's team to face Samoa