IRELAND WILL TRAIN against Dan McFarland’s Ulster today at the IRFU’s high performance centre in the Sport Ireland Campus.

Andy Farrell’s men had been due to face Italy in the Six Nations at the Aviva Stadium this Saturday but that fixture was postponed due to Irish government concerns about the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

Andy Farrell and co. will train against Ulster. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

Ireland have still trained as usual so far this week but with Farrell keen for his players to have a contested session today, the head coach has been pleased to welcome Ulster into camp.

Ulster’s scheduled Pro14 clash away to Benetton last weekend was postponed due to the coronavirus, meaning McFarland’s squad haven’t played since 22 February.

Without any Pro14 fixtures this coming weekend, training against Ireland was an ideal scenario for Ulster and McFarland will welcome the opportunity for his players to test themselves against the best in the country. 

There are no plans for this afternoon’s session to involve a full-on game, with the teams instead running through a series of combined skills units and then going head-to-head with set-piece plays and in general play.

Ireland trained against the Ireland U20s in a similar manner last week, and have done so regularly during the Six Nations in recent years.

Following this afternoon’s training session against Ulster, the Ireland squad are due to break up for an extended rest weekend.

Not having a game in the coming days is likely to be frustrating for the Ireland players given that their last performance was a poor one in defeat to England at Twickenham.

Farrell with his players during a session against the U20s last week. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

As things stand, Ireland are due to face France in Paris on Saturday 14 March, a game they have been preparing for since the Italy fixture was postponed.

But there remains uncertainty around the France fixture amidst the Covid-19 coronavirus.

It was always likely that the French government and Fédération Française de Rugby would wait until closer to the Ireland fixture to make a final call on whether or not it will go ahead.

Ireland’s players will be hoping there is no change and that the clash in Paris goes ahead in two weekends’ time but the spread of the coronavirus has shown that there is no certainty even in a short-term window like this.