IRELAND LEFT THE Grand Théâtre de Tours laden down with gifts this evening, World Cup medals among them.
As with all the other teams, the Irish players were awarded participation medals and World Cup caps as they were formally welcomed to the tournament by some of Tours dignitaries.
The local authorities also gave them an Irish version of the Bouclier de Brennus, the shield the winners of the Top 14 get, as well as a bottle of wine, a piece of art, and many words of welcome.
There was even a performance of Riverdance tunes by a local orchestra in between the speeches, which included an address by Ireland legend Brian O’Driscoll, who was there to represent World Rugby. He told the Irish set-up that there’s one more piece of the puzzle missing as he wished them good luck.
The Irish players appeared to enjoy the ceremony greatly, roaring for one other as each of their names was read out and happily posing for photos at the end. It was a long day of welcomes, with Ireland having met 12,000 locals at an open session earlier.
After arriving in Tours on Thursday, the World Cup is now starting to feel like it’s truly here for the Ireland squad.
“Sure I’ve been raring to go for four years,” said prop Andrew Porter after the welcoming ceremony.
“It’s come down to this, one week to go, so I’m chomping at the bit to get going.”
The open training session couldn’t go ahead in full earlier due to the poor condition of the pitch, but the Ireland players still got to thank the huge crowd of 12,000 that turned up.
“Obviously, it was kinda cut short and we didn’t really get to get what we wanted out of it in terms of the people who came out to support us and what they came to see, really,” said Porter.
“But it was a fun morning. I think we made the most of it. We feel incredibly welcomed by all the people in Tours and the 12,000 people who showed up.”
Whatever about the Stade de la Vallée where the open session was held, Ireland’s own training base at Stade de la Chambrerie is in perfect condition and Porter expressed his delight with the set-up.
“I heard it was nothing a year ago when they came out to do the recce,” said Porter. “It’s an incredible facility now – the gym, the pitch, it’s everything we could have asked for. It’s top-quality.
“And our hotel as well, they’ve pulled out all the stops for us so it’s incredible what they’ve done for us, even in the city of Tours, you see all the Irish flags and the green going around.
“So you can see the people are excited as well, and you can sense it when you’re on your way to training and you see people are excited, clapping the bus into our training facility, which is kind of unknown.”
With the temperature rising to 28°C today and expected to go higher next week, Porter has been staying out of the sun in between sessions. He said the heat “kind of caught me off guard a bit today in training” but he hopes to explore Tours more in the coming weeks.
He’s just excited about getting into rugby now. Porter is a key man as he gets his second taste of the World Cup, having been in Japan in 2019.
“I have been lucky to have been on one so far, and this is my second,” said Porter.
“It’s about cherishing each moment and making memories that will last you a lifetime.”