World Cup winners and losers at halfway mark

Ireland on track

With the exception of Cian Healy's calf injury during the last warm-up match against Samoa, Andy Farrell’s plans have gone as smoothly as he could have hoped.

Three games, three victories and ahead of next Saturday’s final Pool B against match against Scotland, a full deck to pick from with the news that Jack Conan is on course to shake off a troublesome foot injury.

Even the risk Farrell took on Conan’s injury healing appears to be paying off.

The back row combinations and performances of Tadhg Beirne, Peter O’Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris and Ryan Baird, have all served to make the loss of the Lions number 8 more bearable. If he continues to progress as expected, he’ll see action in Paris.

The resurgence of Bundee Aki (above) is another unexpected boost for Farrell with the Connacht centre playing the rugby of his life. He leads the 'runs made' chart and is second in 'clean breaks'.

Even O'Mahony was surprised when he was award player of the match against Romania. Aki was the main man on that day and he was subsequently named best in the wins over Tonga and South Africa.

The two-week break in the schedule has also come at a perfect time, giving the coaching staff time to get the players back to the right emotional pitch after the highs of victory over South Africa in Paris.

Scotland will have to throw everything at Ireland but the team has shown time and again that once they go about their business in the manner they expect of themselves then they will get the job done.

Soon to be commercial manager still good at rugby

Johnny Sexton might be a prime example of a player being able to slot back in seamlessly after a prolonged absence but after six months out, no matter the name, never mind at 38