Ireland without Dan Sheehan, Jack Conan and Dave Kilcoyne for RWC opener

Dan Sheehan, Jack Conan and Dave Kilcoyne will all sit out Ireland's Rugby World Cup opener against Romania on Saturday, but Irish management are confident the trio could be available for the second Pool B game against Tonga next week.

Sheehan and Conan have both brought foot injuries into the tournament; Sheehan picked up his issue against England, while Conan suffered his knock against Italy just over four weeks ago.

Likewise, Kilcoyne hasn't featured since the first warm-up against Italy, having strained a hamstring at the warm-weather training camp in Portugal.

"Everyone's going well, there are a few guys still finishing their rehab and they won’t be involved at the weekend" forwards coach Paul O'Connell said, speaking from Ireland's team base in Tours.

"David Kilcoyne as well is struggling a little bit, but should be OK next week.

"By and large, we're close to a full bill of health."

Head coach Andy Farrell will confirm his team on Thursday, Saturday's opener in Bordeaux, with Johnny Sexton set to play having missed the warm-up schedule due to suspension, while Rónan Kelleher will also feature having overcome a hamstring problem.

O'Connell [below] said the selection policy this week will largely be dictated by who they believe needs to play.

"Game time, and some players needed game time from the end of last year as well. Some guys that maybe picked up knocks during pre-season and didn't get as much running as other guys [will play].

"We trained two days a week [in pre-season], and they were generally pretty high-intensity, there was a decent level of contact in them.

"If you were involved in a lot of those training sessions, you got a lot of rugby specific fitness into your legs. If you missed a few of those you were behind a