IRELAND HAVE ARRIVED in France. They have another eight days to get through until they actually kick off on the pitch against Romania, but it must feel like they’re truly underway now.
This is the 11th week of the World Cup pre-season and Ireland are pleased with the nick they’re in ahead of their opener in Bordeaux. There was genuine sadness in the group at the loss of Cian Healy to injury in their final warm-up game against Samoa last weekend, but other injury concerns have eased.
First-choice hooker Dan Sheehan’s foot injury wasn’t as bad as first feared when he limped off against England two weekends ago, while Rónan Kelleher is on track to feature in the Romania clash after his hamstring injury.
Number eight Jack Conan, also hit by a foot injury, and loosehead prop Dave Kilcoyne, another hamstring issue, are also pushing to be available for Ireland’s opener. Head coach Andy Farrell was glad to have all of them on today’s flight to France.
Ireland’s charter flight took them to their World Cup base, the university city of Tours, which is around a two-and-a-half hour drive to the southwest of Paris.
It’s not as well-known as some of the other host cities in France, but Ireland were happy with their draw when they undertook their recces to Tours, which is known as the gateway city of the Loire Valley.
Tours has a population in the region of 140,000 and so won’t be as busy as other host cities around the country. There are no World Cup games in Tours but the local people are extremely excited about Ireland making it their base.
Demand has been off the charts for their open training session this Saturday at the Stade de la Vallée du Cher, a multi-use stadium that usually serves as the home of football club Tours FC, who play in France’s fifth tier.
The initial batch of tickets for the open session were snapped up by locals within 30 minutes and when the local authorities put another 2,000 up for grabs earlier this week, it took only 25 minutes. There were big queues on both occasions. Clearly, Ireland will be getting a warmer welcome than was the case last weekend in Bayonne when they were booed as the locals found a grá for Samoa.
Ireland will have their first media session on Saturday morning too and it will be a busy few weeks on that front given that World Cup regulations mean teams have to do press conferences nearly every day, putting up a mandatory number of players and coaches for each. You’ll be hearing plenty from Ireland camp and everywhere else.
Then on Saturday evening, Ireland will have their official welcoming ceremony at the Grand Théâtre de Tours. All World Cup teams have these ceremonies, with Georgia the first to be formally welcomed yesterday on the stunning Île de Ré just off the coast of La Rochelle.
New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina will all be welcomed to their host towns and cities tomorrow, with all the other teams also arriving on French soil. In fairness, Ireland have already had a warm welcome. They were greeted off their plane today by some of Tours’ top politicians.
Ireland will be in Tours for most of the next five weeks, travelling to match host cities on Thursdays and then returning to Tours on Sundays, the morning after their matches. Their pool clashes take place in Bordeaux, Nantes, Paris, then Paris again. Ireland will break up from camp for a few days after their clash with South Africa, given that they have a break weekend following that game. World Cup rules mean players have to stay in France, so most of their families will visit.
The plan is for Ireland to advance into the quarter-finals, of course, and if that’s the case, they will stay put in Paris after their final Pool B clash against Scotland. All of their possible knock-out games will be at Stade de France in the capital city, so they’re hoping it will be three-and-a-half-week stay to take in the final.
For now, the tuning-up will continue in Tours. The Irish team hotel has been exclusively booked out for them so they can have privacy, while they will train in a brand-new facility.
The base is at the Stade de la Chambrerie, home to US Tours Rugby who play in Fédérale 2, the fifth tier of the French game. La Ville de Tours, the local authority, and other bodies have helped to fund the development which includes a new gym and changing rooms.
It remains to be seen if many Irish fans pop up in Tours to support the team there away from game days. It does seem that most will simply head for the match cities around the Irish matches, but local businesses in Tours are hopeful that there will be a few Irish tourists visiting, the bar owners especially.
As local media outlet France Bleu put it, “It’s well known that the Irish are not the last when it comes to lifting the elbow.”
Even if there isn’t an influx of Irish fans, the travelling media will do their best to represent the country with pride.
Meanwhile, Farrell and his Ireland team will be working away out of the limelight before the pressure starts to crank up in the next few weeks. The show is on the road.
