'Needs must' - Farrell not worried about players' lack of gametime

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said he isn't overly worried about the prospect of some of his players taking on South Africa next week, despite some of his squad having yet to feature for their provinces this season.

Several members of the group have carried knocks into the Bank of Ireland Nations Series camp, but the outlook is positive for most of those players, with a number of them being reintegrated into group training this week ahead of the opening game of the Test window against South Africa on 5 November.

Among those who are being monitored in their injury recovery are Jamison Gibson-Park and Hugo Keenan, who are yet to play this season after hamstring and abdominal issues, while Tadhg Furlong has only featured once in the campaign, with an ankle injury ruling him out of Leinster's win against Munster last Saturday.

However, Farrell is confident all of his 37-man squad will be available for the opening game against the Springboks.

"There's a lot going on but in general the feeling is among the medical staff is that people are progressing really well," he said.

"Most people should be back sometime this week, if not the end of the week and then there’s a couple that we’ll keep assessing throughout.

"So, decent enough news actually, coming in last night and medical checks this morning. Not a bad place to be.

"But certainly nobody's ruled out at this stage.

"Hugo [Keenan], I'm told, will be available, he’s going to be training with us this week.

"We’re gradually building the week anyway as we go so Thursday, Friday is going to be a big couple of days for a few of the players. But we’ll just wait and see. There’s some people that can handle those type of situations better than others."

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