Robbie Henshaw could be a surprise inclusion at full-back when Ireland begin the defence of their Six Nations title against England on Saturday.
Rob Kearney's lack of recent rugby has led to speculation that Henshaw could be deployed in the number 15 role where he started his career at Connacht.
Kearney missed last weekend's Ireland training camp in Portugal as he played in Leinster's win over the Scarlets.
Ireland's regular full-back sustained a quad muscle injury in November.
That injury, picked up after he helped Ireland defeat the All Blacks, put Kearney out of action until last Friday's Pro14 contest.
Henshaw, 25, missed the win over the All Blacks because of a hamstring injury sustained in the warm-up before the earlier November international against Argentina.
However, the former Connacht player impressed as he returned to Leinster duty in the European Champions Cup win over Wasps on 20 January.
Jordan Larmour and Will Addison are other full-back options for Ireland coach Joe Schmidt.
Schmidt has unprecedented midfield riches with Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Chris Farrell and Addison among his centre options in addition to Henshaw.
With Dan Leavy still not available as he continues his recovery from a neck injury, Sean O'Brien is in contention to return to the back row after breaking his arm in the Argentina game in November.
Another Leinster man Josh van der Flier started against the All Blacks a week later after Leavy was a late withdrawal from the starting line-up because of his injury.