Ulster's Jordi Murphy is set to be called up to the Ireland squad in Japan after his former Leinster team-mate Jack Conan was ruled out on Saturday with a broken foot.
Conan impressed when he was called off the bench early in the opening 27-3 win over Scotland and looked set to start against Japan on Saturday but hurt his foot in training.
Murphy, who featured in the last World Cup and was close to making the cut this time, was withdrawn for Ulster’s Pro 14 game against Ospreys on Friday as Ireland awaited news on the extent of Conan’s injury.
The 28-year-old, capped 29 times, is comfortable at number eight or flanker and is likely to feature in the remaining pool games against Russia and Samoa after Ireland fielded an unchanged pack for their first two games.