IRELAND’S PLAYERS ARE scattered around the country this week, while some have ventured further afield to Spain, France, and Portugal.

World Cup pre-season continues but Andy Farrell’s squad are not in camp. They have had training programmes to follow this week, ensuring they’re pushing their strength and conditioning levels, but the week away has been welcome. While many of the players will have met up to do gym or running sessions, the chance to be at home with their loved ones is important.

Ireland are a tight-knit group but pre-season is always monotonous and sometimes it can result in a bit of burnout before the real rugby even gets underway. This summer, Farrell and his coaches decided to send the players away from camp after each two-week block of intense training, analysis, and planning together.

This structure has been popular with the players and it’s another illustration of the focus Farrell has put on having a happy, relaxed camp. Sure, there would have been benefit from using these two ‘off’ weeks honing set-piece plays, rehearsing exit routines, and studying footage of Tonga and South Africa. But everything Farrell has done so far as Ireland boss highlights that he believes the happiness of his players is as important as the tactical and technical stuff.

The fact that Ireland have a strong base to build from for this World Cup helps. They’re not starting from scratch with lots of new faces. Farrell’s squad is a settled one and Ireland have been playing superb rugby that needs tweaks rather than overhauls. They have worked ferociously hard when they’ve been in for those two-week blocks, but this campaign is a continuation – and end point – of their journey of recent years.

The players have enjoyed the fact that this pre-season hasn’t involved too much conditioning for the sake of conditioning. In contrast to previous pre-seasons, the vast majority of their fitness work has been done with a rugby ball in their hands. Fitness games have pushed their skills and decision-making as well as their conditioning. Ireland don’t want to be the fittest or strongest team, just the best rugby team.

Kieran Treadwell carries during Ireland training. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

And so, it’s a welcome prospect for the players who are going to be involved in the clash with Italy at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday 5 August that they’re into game mode next week. While a crop of the wider squad won’t feature against the Italians, the focus of a first warm-up match makes it feel like everything is moving up a gear.

Ireland have been staying in their usual base at Carton House just outside Maynooth so far this pre-season, meaning a 20-minute spin to the IRFU’s training centre on the Sport Ireland campus in Dublin 15. The players will enjoy getting into the Dublin city centre to set up at the Shelbourne Hotel before they play Italy.

We’re now just four-and-a-half weeks away from Andy Farrell confirming his final squad. As things stand, the public announcement is due to come on Monday 28 August. So while the clock is ticking, there’s an important month ahead for the players jostling for the last few spots in the 33-man group to travel to the World Cup.

Three warm-up games give Farrell scope to settle a few things in his mind. The Italians have named an experimental team to face Scotland this Saturday, so Ireland will probably expect a stronger selection for the clash in Dublin. It will be intriguing to see how strong Farrell goes or whether he uses that game as a trial for the fringe players.

Having played Italy, the Irish squad will then travel to Portugal for a week-long stay in Faro. These warm-weather training camps started under Joe Schmidt in 2018, when they visited Spain, with their first trip to Portugal a year later.

Farrell was an assistant coach back then but he felt being away was beneficial and it has now developed into a once-a-season tradition, one the Ireland boss believes is important in creating cohesion on and off the pitch. 

Ireland stay on the Denis O’Brien-owned Quinta do Lago resort and train at The Campus, an impressive facility with a big gym and training pitch. On this visit, Farrell’s men are set to train against the Portugal national team, who are also preparing for the World Cup.

The Portuguese side have only one confirmed warm-up Test match so training with Ireland is seen as crucial in helping them to get ready, while the Irish players will benefit from testing themselves against opposition who don’t know their systems intimately.

Ireland will travel to Portugal after the Italy game. Ryan Bailey / INPHO Ryan Bailey / INPHO / INPHO

Ireland’s second warm-up Test is against England on 19 August. Those who shudder at the memories of this fixture at Twickenham before the 2019 World Cup will be relieved that it takes place in Dublin.

The Irish group are back on the road again the day after that contest, jetting out for a week-long stay in Biarritz that culminates in a game against Samoa in the Stade Jean Dauger in nearby Bayonne on 26 August.

This brings up a few memories of the infamous and, in hindsight, totally ludicrous ‘Battle of Bayonne’ in 2007 when Ireland took on the French club side just weeks before they faced les Bleus in the actual World Cup in France. Predictably, it was carnage as Bayonne laid into the Irish players. A cheapshot punch left Brian O’Driscoll with a fractured sinus that threatened his World Cup involvement.

Of course, it’s completely different this time around. Samoa are a well-coached team with their own World Cup ambitions in a different pool. The spectre of late injuries always looms over these warm-up games but Farrell will hope that his key men come through their three matches unscathed. How cruel it would be for someone to get injured in the Samoa game given that Farrell is due to name his final 33-man squad two days later.

Ireland will return home after the Samoa game, allowing the players and coaches one last short stint with their families before they fly out to France for good the following weekend.

Their training base in France is in the small university city of Tours, where there is great excitement about hosting Ireland. It’s about two-and-a-half hours’ drive southwest of Paris and Farrell’s men will be based there for virtually all of the pool stages. They’ll travel to the host cities for each game two days beforehand, then return to Tours afterwards.

There will be some time off in the two-week break between their games against South Africa and Scotland, but tournament rules dictate that they must all stay in France. Families will come to visit and everyone will enjoy breaking up from camp for a few days.

Of course, Ireland hope that they’ll have a stay of more than eight weeks in France in total, taking in a World Cup final. Saturday 28 October feels like a long time away. The hard work is only starting.