Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan on course for Springboks showdown

Ireland hooker Dan Sheehan is expected to be fully fit for next weekend's clash with South Africa, according to Andy Farrell.

The Leinster front row has been out of action since 19 August when he sprained foot ligaments against England.

Despite initial concerns, the 24-year-old has progressed well in his rehabilitation but tomorrow’s Pool B tie with Tonga in Nantes (8pm) comes too soon.

"He’s ticked all the boxes this week," said Farrell after naming his side to face the Ikale Tahi, in which Rónan Kelleher starts with Rob Herring on the bench.

"He had to get through set-piece stuff this week for the first time, scrummaging mainly, and he did half a session on Tuesday to see how the reaction was going to be, and a full session on Wednesday, and he’d no qualms to kick on for the rest of the week as well.

"He’ll be available for selection for next week."

Ireland, who defeated Romania last weekend, were also boosted by the return to fitness of Robbie Henshaw and Dave Kilcoyne, the duo both named on the bench after recovering from hamstring issues.

Ireland have been in camp for 12 weeks, playing three warm-up games and the pool opener against the Oaks.

The head coach said his team are about where they should be in terms of preparation.

Farrell said: "I think so, yeah. I mean, proof is in the pudding, I definitely think so.

"I think to start a competition against a side like Romania last week, it was a challenge within itself, because we wanted to, obviously, get out of that game and we did that.

"To score 80 points in any game, against any type of opposition is very hard to do - to stay on point throughout - but we managed to do that. We need to do that in a different kind of way this week."

The former Wigan star was also asked about his