A lot for Farrell to ponder ahead of squad announcement

It's hard to imagine Andy Farrell enjoyed a peaceful night's sleep last night.

The Ireland head coach was in an upbeat mood following the 17-13 win against Samoa in Bayonne, doing his best to take the positives from a laboured Irish performance.

Farrell has often welcomed the challenges that 80 minutes of rugby can throw a coach's way, and genuinely seemed to relish every last-minute injury and inconvenience that his team faced during their Six Nations campaign.

Even if he was pleased to come through a difficult night in Bayonne, his final few selections for his 33-man Rugby World Cup squad will no doubt have caused him a few twists and turns through the night.

He will announce his squad at 4.30pm this afternoon at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, but first he will need to assess the damage from Stade Jean Dauger.

Cian Healy's lower leg injury will give cause for the greatest concern. The 35-year-old's prospects of a fourth trip to the World Cup hang in the balance after he had to be helped from the pitch following a collapsed scrum midway through the opening half of the game.

Farrell had no clear prognosis of the injury in the immediate aftermath, with a scan to be taken first thing this morning, but the initial viewing did not look good for the veteran prop.

During these warm-up games, we've become experts at reading body language having watched Dan Sheehan and first Jack Conan limp out of games with similar foot injuries.

On both occasions the players walked freely to the touchline, and Sheehan even attempted a grimaced jog. The pained and anxious look on Healy's face as he struggled to put any weight on his right leg did little to ease the worries.

If he is to miss the World Cup, it's undeniably a blow for Ireland. While