Johnny Sexton should be fit to take on Wales in Dublin on Saturday, despite missing chunks of the captain’s run with a back problem.
The 32-year-old fly-half was seen undergoing extra warm-ups and stretching at the Aviva Stadium.
And he allowed rookie playmaker Joey Carbery to step into his shoes for the final run-throughs.
Johnny Sexton received work on his back as his team-mates went through stretches
The Ireland fly-half is still fully expected to start against Wales in Saturday’s Six Nations game
Rory Best said Sexton is just getting older so requires more work on his body
But Ireland captain Rory Best eased concerns over his talismanic stand-off.
‘He’s grand,’ he said.
‘He’s just getting a bit older, so he needed a bit longer to warm up, but he came into the tail-end of the session.
‘He let the subs run at the start and then the starters finished off. He was fine, he finished the session. No concerns.’
With British and Irish Lions Iain Henderson and Tadhg Furlong already out, losing Sexton would be an almighty blow to Ireland.
Sexton is a key player for Joe Schmit’s side who are currently on course for a Grand Slam
The hosts have not lost at home in this tournament since 2013, and Best is keen for them to shake off their early tournament cobwebs and fire into Wales to keep that record alive.
‘We’re always desperate to win and always desperate for form,’ he added.
‘We’re under no illusions now that the Championship from Saturday onwards takes a massive step up for us.
‘To keep that record alive is going to be a really tough challenge for us.
‘But ultimately it’s Test match rugby, you want to test yourself against the best, and Wales have shown themselves to be a real handful.
‘We’ve got to perform to a level better than we have previously in this tournament.’
Best is looking forward to testing himself against Wales who have been impressive so far
Andrew Porter is one of the inexperienced players to line up against Wales
This week Warren Gatland said he did not rate Ireland as the best side in the championship, and Best is keen to prove his Lions boss wrong on the Kiwi’s 100th Test in charge of Wales.
‘He’s coming off the back of having just played England and their record over the last two years speaks for itself,’ he said.
‘But we’ll not really pay any heed to that. We’ll hope that through our performances that we can change his mind.
‘And if it doesn’t change his mind but we win, we’ll not really be that bothered.’
Ireland are unbeaten so far in this tournament, having won against France and Italy. Wales lost to England last time out having beaten Scotland in the opening round.
Warren Gatland said he did not rate Ireland as the best team in the tournament