Ireland centre Jared Payne ruled out of World Cup

Ireland centre Jared Payne has been ruled out of the rest of the World Cup after an x-ray revealed he has a fractured foot.

It was initially thought Payne had only a bruised foot and he had been reported to have been close to being selected for Sunday's crunch clash with France at the Millennium Stadium.

A statement from the Irish camp read: "Following training on Wednesday, due to continued discomfort, Jared had further scans which revealed a foot fracture. He will be returning to Ireland for specialist opinion and will take no further part in the tournament.

"No decision on a replacement will be made until after Sunday's fixture at the Millennium Stadium."

Keith Earls and Robbie Henshaw will be Ireland's centres against France. 

Andrew Trimble and Noel Reid will be in the frame to replace Ulster centre Payne after Sunday's pool D decider.

Irish centre Tommy Bowe has backed Trimble to fill the void left by Payne. 

"I tell you what, listen, Trimby's a really great mate of mine - I'd love to see him out here," Bowe said.

"I think he has a fantastic opportunity to be here. He was definitely a guy who trained exceptionally well during pre-season.

"He's a very experienced customer. He's shown exactly what sort of quality he has and when it comes to these big matches. We know what we can expect from a player of his quality.

"So I think Andrew is definitely one person who will be eagerly hoping that he's the man who gets the call-up, but unfortunately I know as little as anyone at the minute and thankfully it's not my call who comes out."

Scrum coach Greg Feek and captain Paul O'Connell revealed a sombre mood in the Ireland camp on bidding Payne an unhappy farewell on Saturday morning.

"It's a massive loss and we really feel for him," Feek said. "It was a bit of a moment for him.

"It's always tough to lose one of your family members like that. His foot just got re-checked this week. [On Friday] evening he got the confirmation.

"You try to include him and we wanted to try to get him out there this week, but it was also about managing that process while we were finding out how he was."

New Zealand-born Payne has excelled in Ireland's midfield since his November 2014 debut, helping Schmidt's huge battle of moving the side past the twin retirements of Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy.

Payne and Henshaw have forged a formidable defensive unit in the centres, and Earls will have to be at his very best to maintain that level against France, especially with juggernaut centre Mathieu Bastareaud careering through his channel.

"He's a big loss," Ireland captain O'Connell said.

"What he's done in the short time he's played for Ireland has been incredible.

"He's very calm on the pitch. He'll tell you exactly what to do in one short sentence.

"He's had an elder statesman attitude about how he goes about things.

"For the journey he's been on to get here, it's hugely disappointing for the group when it was announced (on Saturday) morning.