Irish await Dempsey and Flannery

Girvan Dempsey and Jerry Flannery are major doubts amongst a host of injury concerns for Ireland ahead of Sunday's crunch World Cup clash with Argentina.

Full-back Dempsey is still troubled with a collarbone problem, and if he fails to come through, Geordan Murphy could come in for his first start.

Hooker Flannery injured his shoulder in training on Monday and was in intense pain after a clash with Simon Best.

Ronan O'Gara (calf) and Brian O'Driscoll (knee) are minor doubts.

O'Driscoll also received a bang to the knee during a front-on training session which also saw Ulster scrum-half Issac Boss receive three stitches to a cut above his left eye.

Both O'Gara and Dempsey sat out training on Monday with injuries picked up in Friday's 25-3 defeat by France.

An Ireland spokesman said none of the injuries during the session are serious enough to rule the players out of selection for the game in Paris.

Flannery had an ice pack placed on his shoulder and he took no further part in the session in Bordeaux.

The Irish will have to score four tries and beat Argentina by more than seven points in their final match to reach the quarter-finals.

The defeat by France followed unconvincing wins over Namibia and Georgia in Pool D.

Source: BBC Sport