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Published 22:43 25 Feb 2017 GMT
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The one thing going for the fullback right now is that he has time on his side. It is 13 days until we face Wales in Cardiff.
If Kearney is ruled out, Schmidt may well go with the back three that saw out the game against France - Andrew Trimble and Keith Earls on the wings with Simon Zebo at fullback.
There are two other fullback options, though. Tiernan O'Halloran continues to tear it up for Connacht.
Jared Payne is back in the Ulster squad. He is on the bench for the PRO12 game against Zebre. If he gets 20 or 30 minutes, he could find himself back into the Irish squad for the final two games.
Speaking to SportsJOE on Thursday, Garry Ringrose stressed how important Payne is to the Irish team. He said:
"If I could be half the player he is I'd be over the moon... Jared is incredible defensively. I've learned as much as I could off him training with him and watching him on TV. To describe him as the defensive captain is very true."Big tests await, against Wales and England, and Payne could easily slot in as fullback for them both. Big days ahead, and big decisions too.
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