Rugby:Ireland's countdown to the World Cup began in earnest this morning as the squad took their first steps on the long road to New Zealand. With just 77 days between now and their opening Pool C match against the USA on September 11th, the squad blew off the cobwebs after the summer break at the first of three pre-season training camps at Carton House.
There were some notable absentees from the 43-man training squad announced by Declan Kidney earlier this month, with Gordon D’Arcy perhaps the most concerning for the Irish management. The Leinster centre had been struggling to shake off an ankle injury picked up in the Heineken Cup final win over Northampton and had surgery on the problem last week.
The 31-year-old is now expected to be sidelined for roughly six weeks, ruling him out of Ireland’s first three warm-up matches in August. While he will miss the trips to Murrayfield and Bordeaux, as well as the challenge match against Connacht, the Irish medical team are confident D’Arcy could add to his tally of 57 caps when France and England come to the Aviva later in the month.
Stephen Ferris was also excused from duty by Kidney this week as he continues to rehab from the long-standing knee injury he suffered in January. The Ulster blindside is back running but will remain with the province to concentrate on his fitness programme.
Brett Wilkinson, one of four uncapped players in the panel, will have to wait to join up with the squad as the Connacht prop nurses a hamstring injury but Conor Murray, Felix Jones and Mike McCarthy were among those assembled at the Co Kildare base.
The panel will train until Friday before being released back to the provinces, or clubs in the case of Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Tony Buckley (Sale) and Geordan Murphy (Leicester), but are due to meet twice more in July before the preparations are ramped up in August.
Ireland’s World Cup warm-ups
Saturday, August 6th
Scotland v Ireland, Murrayfield
Saturday, August 13th
France v Ireland, Bordeaux
Thursday, August 18th
Ireland Select XV v Connacht, Donnybrook
Saturday, August 20th
Ireland v France, Aviva Stadium
Saturday, August 27th
Ireland v England, Aviva Stadium
