DEFENCE COACH SIMON Easterby has confirmed that Ireland have a clean bill of health heading into next Friday night’s first November test against New Zealand, with hookers Rónan Kelleher and Rob Herring both expected to be available for selection following recent injuries.

Wing Mack Hansen, too, should be fit to make his first Ireland appearance of the year despite missing Connacht’s last two URC games.

Peter O’Mahony, meanwhile, is expected to make his comeback from a short-term hamstring injury when Munster host a New Zealand XV this Saturday. The former Munster captain, and now former Ireland captain, will join up with Andy Farrell’s squad on Monday provided he comes through Saturday’s provincial appearance unscathed.

O’Mahony’s national-team captaincy has been handed to Caelan Doris, whom he congratulated on his Instagram story when Farrell’s November squad was announced.

And Easterby put into context the Leinster back row’s leadership skills as he begins his journey as Ireland’s full-time skipper, which may even culminate in a Lions captaincy all going well.

“All I can say is what Caelan has done here and his progression as a player and as a leader within the group: I think anyone who gets to work with Caelan realises he’s got a huge amount to offer with how he plays the game. He leads by example but he also thinks about the game differently and thinks about how the group are, the empathy he has for the group, and with that it allows him to lead in different ways.

“He obviously has a high standing in Leinster and in this group and the next four weeks will be part of his development as a leader and that will allow him to settle into the role — and who knows after that?

“I’m sure Caelan is just thinking about the here and the now and wat we’ve got to prepare for in eight days’ time.”

Ireland were particularly inspired by a special-guest speaker in Dublin before they travelled to Portugal for their warm-weather training camp.

Nando Parrado from Uruguay was one of 16 survivors on Flight 571 which crashed in the Andes in October 1972.

After two months trapped in the mountains, it was rugby player Parrado and his fellow passenger Roberto Canessa who finally reached help by way of a 10-day trek through treacherous terrain. The tragedy cost 29 people their lives, including some of Parrado’s immediate family.

With the story of Flight 571 having long transfixed audiences on film and various other media platforms, Parrado has gone on to succeed as a businessman, motivational speaker author in his native Uruguay.

“I didn’t realise that he was one of 17 players on that flight but he also had his mother on the flight, his sister on the flight. He lost them in the accident and the survivors spent two and a half months trying to figure out a way to stay alive,” Easterby said.

“It was really inspirational. Just someone you could relate to because of his rugby background. The team that he played with has a shamrock on the jersey that they play in and he obviously has a massive love and affiliation towards Ireland because of that. He grew up being taught by the Christian brothers. So there was a familiarity and similarity to what he was talking about.

“A real inspiration and interesting to hear from someone who had been through all of that and still had the positivity to come out the other side and live a very good life.”

Easterby described the players’ response to Parrado’s story as “just shock”.

“I don’t think they could quite believe it,” he added. “Maybe they had seen the old film, or then there’s another more recent one that’s been made, but until you hear from the people actually involved in those experiences, you probably don’t fully appreciate what they went through and how much they’re relying on each other and how they were able to really work through some tough times and come out the other side.

“Obviously they lost a lot of friends and family along the way but it was a pretty inspiring story.”