Andy Farrell joked Ireland may have to borrow players from a local side's Under-12s to face England after losing five more to injury in their Six Nations victory over Scotland.
Ireland claimed a well-earned 22-7 victory at Murrayfield on Sunday to take their Grand Slam hopes down to next weekend's final game against England.
Farrell's men have now won seven matches in a row in the competition – their joint-best ever run – but their latest victory may have come at a cost.
The visitors lost three of their starting forward pack inside the first 25 minutes, with Caelan Doris, Dan Sheehan and Iain Henderson making way.
Replacement hooker Ronan Kelleher was next to exit the field, leaving prop Cian Healy at hooker and flanker Josh van der Flier the lineout thrower
Garry Ringrose then sustained a serious-looking head injury late on, potentially leaving Farrell with a major selection problem for the visit of England in six days' time.
"We'll go again. We'll have a good squad," Farrell told BBC Sport. "If we get any more injuries in the week we might have to have a look at Old Belvedere Under-12s!
"We'll lick our wounds and go again. England will be dangerous, but it'll be one hell of a weekend on St Patrick's Day."
There was little between the sides after a tense first half in which Mack Hansen cancelled out Huw Jones' try, with that the Scotland centre's tournament-high fourth of 2023.
Ireland's quality eventually told, though, as James Lowe crossed over with 56 minutes played and Jack Conan powered over to put the game out of the home side's reach.
"It was an amazing Test match," Farrell said. "There was a bit of organised chaos at half-time, but everyone had a smile on their face.
"We didn't get the try early on, then lost Caelan. It's a monumental effort, but that's what these boys expect of each other. They've earned the right to take it to the last weekend.
"The lads can do anything at this moment in time. How we looked after each other was the most impressive thing."
Scotland would have had a second try in the first period if not for a superb Hugo Keenan challenge to stop Duhan van der Merwe from reaching the line.
Just one point separated Scotland and Ireland at half-time for the seventh time in nine Tests at Murrayfield, but Ireland found a way to make it six wins in a row in this fixture.
Johnny Sexton, who kicked seven points to draw level with compatriot Ronan O'Gara in the all-time list of Six Nations points scorers, is proud of the way his side dug in.
"It was an incredibly tough game," he told BBC Sport. "Anytime you come to Murrayfield you know you're in a Test match. That was one of the toughest first halves I've played.
"We knew it would be tough, and we're delighted to come away with the win. Now we've got to get the bodies back together.
"We'll be playing against an English team that are hurting and one that we have huge respect for. The Irish people will get behind us next week, so we're looking forward to that."
A second defeat in a row for Scotland brings and end to their campaign, and head coach Gregor Townsend accepts Ireland were the better side over the 80 minutes.
"I'd rather talk about the first half than the second half, because the second half was disappointing," he said. "We created chances in that first half.
"It was a real high energy performance – what you'd call a proper Test match. Both teams were a little fatigued at the start of the second half, it was there for us to lift the energy.
"We didn't; we weren't accurate enough. Ireland grew in confidence and were clearly the better team in the second half. We're disappointed with the fact we didn't kick on.
"What we wanted today was a complete, 80-minute performance. We only got it for 40. We know we'll have to play well next week. Italy come here with nothing to lose."
Strasbourg 1-1 Paris Saint-Germain: Messi strikes as PSG seal record-breaking Ligue 1 title
Lionel Messi was on target as Paris Saint-Germain sealed their record-breaking 11th Ligue 1 title, despite being held to a 1-1 draw at Strasbourg on Saturday.
Messi, who will leave PSG when his contract expires at the end of the season, broke the deadlock with his 16th goal of the season just before the hour at Stade de la Meinau.
Strasbourg substitute Kevin Gameiro thwarted Christophe Galtier's side with a 79th-minute leveller, but the point was enough for PSG to secure a successful Ligue 1 title defence with a match to spare.
Strasbourg's top-flight status was also confirmed after the draw for Frederic Antonetti's hosts maintained their six-point cushion over 17th-placed Nantes, who failed to beat Lille.
Inter 3-2 Atalanta: Nerazzurri seal top-four finish after flying San Siro start
Inter secured Champions League qualification in their penultimate game of the Serie A season, dealing a fatal blow to Atalanta's own top-four hopes with a 3-2 win at San Siro.
The Nerazzurri – finalists in Europe's premier club competition this term – stormed into a two-goal lead within just two minutes and 49 seconds after Romelu Lukaku and Nicolo Barella were on target.
Atalanta needed a result to keep their slim hopes of a top-four finish alive, and they were handed a lifeline by Mario Pasalic before the interval on Saturday.
Yet Inter added a deserved third through Lautaro Martinez after the break, proving Andre Onana's late own goal a mere Atalanta consolation, as the Nerazzurri moved eight points clear of their fifth-placed visitors.
Lukaku only needed 39 seconds to put Inter ahead, timing his run from Martinez's throughball before rounding Marco Sportiello and tapping into an empty net.
Atalanta found themselves further behind by the three-minute mark, Barella hammering a rebound into the roof of the net after Sportiello twice saved from Federico Dimarco.
Hakan Calhanoglu was denied a third by the offside flag when he netted with a ferocious volley, before Andre Onana was forced into action by Rasmus Hojlund and Teun Koopmeiners.
Atalanta halved the arrears nine minutes before half-time, Pasalic hooking a finish beyond Onana following a goalmouth scramble.
Calhanoglu drew a flying save from Sportiello as Atalanta wilted after the interval, Inter managing the game in typically assured fashion.
Martinez stretched Inter's lead further when Marcelo Brozovic teed up a tap-in 13 minutes from time, before Luis Muriel's powerful long-range strike deflected in off the unfortunate Onana as the Nerazzurri just held on for victory.
Sevilla 1-2 Real Madrid: Rodrygo powers Los Blancos to comeback win
Rodrygo scored a deadly double as Real Madrid battled from behind to win 2-1 at 10-man Sevilla in LaLiga on Saturday.
Carlo Ancelotti's side strengthened their grasp on second place in the league after recovering from an early setback to triumph at Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.
Rodrygo's free-kick cancelled out Rafa Mir's early opener in an entertaining first half in Andalusia, where Madrid played without their star duo of Karim Benzema and Vinicius Junior.
Rodrygo's second goal with just over 20 minutes remaining proved decisive before Marcos Acuna was dismissed as Madrid moved four points clear of rivals Atletico Madrid, who host Real Sociedad on Sunday.
Mir fired Sevilla into a third-minute lead after reacting quickly to sweep into the top-left corner when Bryan Gil's initial effort ricocheted kindly into his path.
Rodrygo spurned a glorious opportunity to equalise shortly after, dragging wide when unmarked from Lucas Vazquez's low cross – but the Madrid winger soon made amends.
An unsighted Yassine Bounou was deceived as Rodrygo whipped a 25-yard free-kick into the bottom-right corner after 29 minutes, although Sevilla should have been ahead at half-time.
Erik Lamela volleyed against the post with Thibaut Courtois stranded, before the forward lifted a back-post chance over after an inviting Alejandro Gomez delivery.
Rodrygo somehow lofted over when one-on-one with Bounou after the break, while Mir turned narrowly wide from Acuna's pinpoint centre.
Yet Rodrygo proved the difference after 69 minutes, coolly finishing a rapid counter-attack by sliding into the bottom-right corner to down Sevilla, who saw Acuna dismissed later on for a mindless lunge on Vazquez.
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