Ireland coach Mike Catt has said that the extent of Dan Sheehan's injury will become clearer this week.
The star Leinster and Ireland hooker picked up a foot injury in Ireland's warm-up win against England at the Aviva Stadium and is now a major doubt for Ireland's pool games against the likes of Scotland, South Africa, Romania, and Tonga next month.
Munster's Diarmuid Barron has joined up with the Ireland squad in place of the injured Sheehan. Sheehan has stayed in Dublin, while the rest of the Ireland squad trains in Biarritz ahead of Saturday's final warm-up game against Samoa in Bayonne.
Speaking to the media today, Catt confirmed he wasn't able to give a time-frame on a return for Sheehan but did admit that he was getting the best treatment ahead of the tournament.
"We still haven't got confirmation on what it is," the Ireland attack and backs coach Mike Catt said to members of the media on Tuesday
"He's still seeing a specialist; obviously, he's being rehabbed back in Dublin, so hopefully, Andy [Farrell] will have a bit more of an answer tomorrow.
"As it currently stands, he's seeing a specialist and getting the proper treatment accordingly, really."
Dan Sheehan, Jack Conan and Dave Kilcoyne didn’t travel to Biarritz with the Ireland squad this week. They are rehabbing in Dublin.
Diarmuid Barron has been called up to the squad as injury cover for Sheehan.— Cian Tracey (@CianTracey1) August 21, 2023
Reports also emerged this week that Sheehan would miss the entirety of the pool stages, but Catt has not been drawn into the speculation. He's backed the other hookers in the squad to step up and stake a claim for a spot in Andy Farrell's final squad selection, which takes place next Monday.
"Yeah, like I say, he's still being diagnosed, so we'll have a much better idea tomorrow or on Thursday in terms of where he's at and when his return dates are," added Catt.
"I think what you get from Dan is one of the best hookers in the world currently, so he's going to be missed in whatever team he plays in. But again, we've got full faith in Rob Herring, Ronan Kelleher, and Tom Stewart obviously, who is showing his face at the moment.
"So it gives these guys an opportunity to have a pop this weekend, and again, depending on the diagnosis, we'll see how we go on the back end of it.
"Again, Dan is a world-class rugby player. He has been instrumental in terms of how we play our game. So he'd be a big loss to anybody.
"He hasn't been in camp with us; we flew out straight away after the game on Sunday morning. He stayed in Dublin, so we haven't been able to speak to him. Obviously, Andy and the medics are dealing with that side of it. We have a team to prepare, so we're doing that."
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