Payne has returned to action with Ulster in recent weeks, after a three-month absence caused by a serious kidney injury, but time is now against him in the short-term bid to reclaim his place in the back line at Ringrose's expense.

The young Leinster player has slotted in impressively alongside Robbie Henshaw in Joe Schmidt's midfield and it is highly unlikely that Payne will be risked from the start given there is just one more training session between now and the next game.

Schmidt has historically demanded that players be fit for action at the start of any Test week. Only rarely has he wavered from that policy and only then for the likes of undroppables such as Jonathan Sexton.

"He felt pretty good on the weekend," said assistant Ireland coach Simon Easterby of Payne's 80 minutes against Treviso with Ulster last Friday. "Pretty sharp. But he has been a long time out of the game and so we have been pretty comfortable with what we have picked so far.

"We're happy with the guys who have been playing in those positions. For Jared it is great to have him back around and hopefully we will see him train on Wednesday and then we will take it from there."

Ringrose only made his senior international debut last November, against Canada, but he has lived up to his considerable billing on both sides of the ball. The Irish coaching ticket has certainly had few complaints.

"We can all say how impressed we have been with Garry," said Easterby. "He is a young man in years but he certainly looks like he is playing beyond those years in terms of his understanding of the game, his awareness.

"He is an intelligent rugby player, he sees things that a lot of players can't see and guys who have been around a lot longer than him. We've known for a long time, as have all of you, that he is something special and he hasn't done too much wrong."

Payne may yet make the bench for the Principality Stadium clash although news that Rob Kearney trained fully on Monday after recent groin issues clarifies matters further ahead of Wednesday's team announcement.

The only other updates from team HQ concerned the fringe trio of Tiernan O'Halloran, Joey Carbery and Dan Leavy. As with Payne, all sat out Monday's session due to general wear and tear caused by recent PRO12 duties.