Kearney injury a worry for Ireland
The 29-year-old Leinster star limped away after scoring Ireland's fifth try in the second half at Wembley and was replaced soon afterwards.
"Rob was involved in a high-speed play after coming on the pitch and just after scoring the try he's jarred himself," said Ireland coach Joe Schmidt.
"We hope it's not too much but the next 24 to 48 hours will tell if he's done anything telling for next week.
"It's through his glute and hip. It happened when his knee hit the ground," added the New Zealander.
Kearney, who had a hamstring injury heading into the tournament, is integral to Ireland's hopes of succeeding in a tournament where they have never gone beyond the quarterfinals.
The Irish face a pivotal week as they play Italy on Sunday and round off their first round engagements against unpredictable heavyweights France, who under coach Philippe Saint-Andre have yet to beat the Irish in four meetings.
Schmidt, who has guided the Irish to back-to-back Six Nations titles after taking over a bedraggled and demoralised squad in 2013, said beating Italy and securing a place in the last eight would be target number one achieved.
However, the 50-year-old New Zealander knows that topping Pool D would see them avoid defending champions New Zealand – who look certain to top their pool – in the quarterfinals. The Irish would need to do that by beating France in their final first-round clash.
"Next week is the pivotal week," said Schmidt.
"It's where we can qualify ourselves. The game against France just decides who we play in the quarterfinal if we can win next week.
"It's pressure for us and pressure for Italy. That's why people come to a World Cup – they want to see how teams respond to the pressure cooker environment," added Schmidt, who got the Ireland job on the back of a trophy-laden spell at Irish province Leinster.
Schmidt said the game with Italy would be a knockout match. Italy were well beaten by France before struggling over the line with a 23-18 win over Canada.
"We know we can qualify if we win next weekend," said Schmidt.
"Italy, after a win and a loss, need to win next weekend to qualify."
Schmidt was also delighted to see several players perform well enough against Romania to cause him tough choices for the Italy clash.
"There were a number of players who performed really well and will create a big selection headache for Italy," said Schmidt.
"I don't think you're ever totally satisfied. We know we've been imperfect but it's a difficult thing to work through a couple of games where you're heavily favoured."
The standout performer for the Irish was wing Keith Earls, although his Munster teammate Simon Zebo also caught the eye. Earls' brace of tries brought him level with retired iconic centre Brian O'Driscoll as Ireland's record World Cup try scorer on seven.
"It's nice for him to be mentioned in the same sentence as (Brian) O'Driscoll," Schmidt said.
"Because that's the standard that any Irish player in the backline wants to reach."
Agence France-Presse
