Rory Best: Tom Stewart has a shot at Ireland World Cup slot

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell names his 33-man squad for the Rugby World Cup on Sunday and it's a panel likely to be short on surprises, with most pundits of the view that only two or three slots remain genuinely up for grabs.

One of the few difficult calls facing Farrell could well come at the hooker position, with former Ireland captain Rory Best anticipating Ulster's Tom Stewart giving the Ireland boss something to think about when he starts for the first time against Samoa in Bayonne on Saturday evening (7.45pm Irish time).

There are four players in the position currently involved in the Ireland camp, with Dan Sheehan and Rónan Kelleher almost certain to make the cut despite injury concerns, leaving Stewart with the task of unshipping provincial colleague Rob Herring from the third, and likely final hooker spot, in the squad.

"When the squad is named on Monday, you'll really see the severity of Dan Sheehan's injury," Best told RTÉ Sport.

"If it's something that's going to keep him out of the first and maybe the second game and Rónan Kelleher is struggling a little bit - he's a great player, but he has been struggling a little bit with injury over the last number of years - it's a big risk to take.

"If Sheehan is unavailable for the first two games and you go with a hooker that hasn't played yet and has had a few niggles over the years and he goes down injured the day before a game or goes down injured early or Rob Herring starts and goes down early, there's a lot to take in.

"I think it will also depends on Tom Stewart, who has a massive opportunity tomorrow to show that he's capable of playing at this level.

"Sheehan is probably the one of the best hookers in the world, if not the best hooker in the world, and Herring is