IRELAND HEAD COACH Joe Schmidt will resist the temptation to bring Tommy Bowe into his match day squad for the Six Nations clash against France on Saturday.
The Ulster wing will instead play for Ulster in their Pro12 fixture against the Scarlets on Friday night as he continues his recovery of peak match fitness.
There had been some speculation that Schmidt would turn to Bowe’s proven ability for the high stakes encounter in Paris, but it appears Andrew Trimble and Dave Kearney will be retained out wide.
Meanwhile, Peter O’Mahony has made an “excellent” recovery from the hamstring strain that saw him held back from last weekend’s win over Italy, with the Munster captain expected to train fully this week.
The 24-year-old is almost certain to return to the number six jersey after Iain Henderson filled in there on Saturday.
Similarly, Cian Healy – who sustained a “knock to right ankle” while scoring a try against the Italians – should take a full part in training tomorrow at Carton House, according to Ireland team manager Mick Kearney.
Scrum-half Conor Murray’s “tummy bug” has settled and he will have no problems in completing the training schedule this week too. His half-back partner Jonny Sexton came through the Italy clash with no ill effects to his right thumb and although he continues to wear a bandage around the joint, is in no pain.
Ireland carried out individual player profiling of the French squad this morning, and will train as a squad at their Maynooth base tomorrow.