Kildare's James Tracy in line for Six Nations debut after being drafted in as sick cover for Rory Best

Kill native James Tracy may make his Six Nations debut for Ireland in the Stadio Olimpico tomorrow afternoon after he was drafted into Joe Schmidt's squad as a potential replacement for hooker Rory Best.

Best is currently struggling with a stomach bug and didn't train with the squad today, thus putting his fitness in serious doubt ahead of the meeting with Italy. The Irish coaching squad believe that he will recover in time for the game at 2.25pm tomorrow, but Munster hooker Niall Scannell is being prepared in case Best is unable to feature.

That opens the door for Tracy to take a place on the replacements bench, and the Kildare man is due to fly out to the Italian capital either tonight or early tomorrow morning. Tracy made his international debut against Canada in November, scoring a try off the bench, and he has featured regularly for Leinster this season.

It would seem that the Irish and Leinster management teams were aware of Best's chances of missing out earlier this morning as Tracy wasn't named in the Leinster squad to face Treviso despite not being scheduled for involvement with Ireland.