ANDY FARRELL’S IRELAND will bring together a small group of players from Munster, Ulster and Connacht for a training camp next week as preparations for this summer’s Nations Championship tour begin.

Leinster will be building up to their URC final against the Bulls on Friday 19 June, so their players will not be part of the first Ireland training camp early next week.

However, The 42 understands that the remainder of the players in Farrell’s plans for the summer are set to gather on Monday for a three-day camp.

Connacht and Munster’s seasons concluded in the URC quarter-finals two weekends ago, with Ulster’s campaign ending in defeat in the Challenge Cup final a week earlier.

As such, Farrell and co. are understandably keen to get those Munster, Connacht and Ulster players in for a camp that will likely involve lots of strength and conditioning work under head of athletic performance, Aled Walters.

Leinster will once again be the bulk suppliers to Farrell’s final Ireland squad, so next week’s camp will likely be made up of fewer than 15 players.

Farrell is due to name his official touring squad on Wednesday 17 June, with the full group gathering after the URC final ahead and departing for Australia in several groups on Sunday 21 June and Monday 22 June.

It’s expected that the final Ireland squad will be made up of 32 or 33 players.

Ireland will play Australia in Sydney on 4 July, then take on Japan on Australian soil in Newcastle on 11 July, before flying to New Zealand to challenge the All Blacks at Eden Park in Auckland in their final summer Test on 18 July.

This will be the opening window of the new biennial Nations Championship, which will continue in November when Ireland host Argentina, Fiji and South Africa in Dublin, then face a play-off game at Twickenham in London.

Farrell, who recently confirmed a new four-year contract extension with the IRFU until the end of the 2031 World Cup, will see this summer as crucial for his squad following their Triple Crown triumph in the Six Nations. The 2027 World Cup is well and truly looming now.

Ever the competitor, Farrell will hope to see Ireland win the inaugural Nations Championship this year, but there are other motivations for his Irish squad next month.

Rugby Australia recently announced that the 45,000-capacity Allianz Stadium in Sydney has sold out for the Wallabies’ clash with Farrell’s Ireland. A huge Irish crowd is expected for that Test in just over three weeks.

A week later, Ireland will face Eddie Jones’ Japan at the 33,000-capacity McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle, where there is also a large Irish diaspora.

Then it will be onwards to New Zealand, where Farrell and Ireland will be hugely motivated by the prospect of a first-ever win at Eden Park, which is a genuine fortress for the All Blacks. 

The All Blacks haven’t lost at Eden Park since 1994, winning 50 and drawing two of their last 52 Tests in the Auckland stadium.

With all of that in mind, Ireland’s work will get underway early next week before Farrell confirms the final make-up of his touring squad publicly on Wednesday.

- This article was updated at 12.55pm on 12 June to correct New Zealand’s record at Eden Park.