Robbie Henshaw emerges as injury doubt for Scotland clash 

Ireland assistant coach Paul O'Connell has described the knock suffered by Leinster man Henshaw as a 'bit of a niggle'.

'NIGGLE': Robbie Henshaw. 

Robbie Henshaw has emerged as an injury doubt for Ireland’s final World Cup pool game against Scotland on Saturday night, Paul O’Connell revealed on Wednesday.

The Ireland squad completed their final training session at their Stade de La Chambrerie training complex before Thursday’s transfer to Paris for what they hope will be an extended stay in the French capital beyond this weekend.

They need two match points from their Pool B finale at Stade de France in order to qualify for the quarter-finals but forwards coach O’Connell said experienced centre Henshaw had picked up a 'niggle' in training.

Andy Farrell’s squad had been reported to be fully fit earlier in the week with all 33 players available for selection when the head coach names his matchday 23 to face the Scots at their new base north of Paris on Thursday afternoon. Yet concerns over Henshaw’s fitness have altered that situation.

"Yeah, everyone came through training,” O’Connell said. “Robbie has a bit of a niggle and we're finding out about that today. I'm sure there'll be some information on that tomorrow."

Henshaw, 30, is the most experienced centre in the Ireland squad with 67 caps, though his last two appearances have come off the bench as back-up to starting midfielders Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose.

If the British & Irish Lion fails to prove his fitness, it would create a vacancy for the number 23 jersey, covering the outside back positions, with Keith Earls the most likely candidate to step up, though the as yet unplayed utility back Jimmy O’Brien and inside centre Stuart McCloskey may also come under consideration for the bench role.

Though Ireland would progress to the last eight with a draw against their Six Nations rivals, whom they have beaten in their last eight meetings, O’Connell said the camp was treating this fourth and last fixture of the pool stage as effectively the beginning of knockout rugby.

"Yeah, just had that conversation with the doctor today. That's exactly what it is now this weekend really for us.

"We're aware of the permutations but the focus is really on winning."

The forwards coach said the Irish management wanted to see improvements in the team performance from their last outing, a hard-fought 13-8 victory over defending champions South Africa on September 23 in order to get over the line against Scotland. Yet he backed the squad led by captain Johnny Sexton to stay on task and next-moment focused.

"We just have to get better. I think that's one of the things the lads are really good at, they're really good at staying focused on the next game and not looking beyond it.

“They kind of acknowledge, you know, whenever we've been on tour down in New Zealand or whenever we're playing in the Six Nations, in terms of having a chance of winning it, they acknowledge it, they might have a quick chat about it, and that allows them to focus on what's in front of them.

“Staying focused on this game and absolutely nothing else is a skillset they've gotten really good at.

"Then we've just got to get better. There's a lot of things that we were excellent at against South Africa but there's a lot of things we can improve on in terms of our attack, in terms of our defence, in terms of ruck, lineout obviously.

“So there's always bits to get better at and that's what I think sometimes helps the lads kind of tune out the noise a little bit of what might happen after the game. They enjoy focusing on the bits and pieces that help them be better and they can ignore the bigger picture of the game at the weekend."