Life in a bubble: Ireland players make the best of strict regime in the new normal

For Ireland's 36-man squad last Wednesday would have brought a mixture of emotions. They said a more prolonged goodbye to families and loved ones than would normally have been the case, before skipping off with a spring in their step to assemble in Carton House. Yippee, it's Six Nations time, though not as they've ever known it.

So began life in a bio-secure bubble for an initial block of 18 days until the night of the second round game against France in Aviva Stadium on Sunday, February 14th.

After four nights at home, a two-day camp on the Thursday and Friday, a weekend at home, they’ll return to the bubble for the week of the Italian game in Rome. Cue a second fallow week, before reassembling for another 14-day unbroken stay together.

In addition to 36 players, there are 25 support staff living in the bubble, outside of which ancillary staff, such as Inpho photographers, videos on the net and analyst operators, and occasionally referees will come in and out. They are also PCR tested twice a week and henceforth will be antigen tested as a precaution.

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The hotel is closed to the public and all the hotel staff, which numbers 25, will also be PCR tested.

Back in April last year, the IRFU began planning for scenarios such as this, forming a Covid committee, designating four HPCs to the Government, and appointed provincial Covid managers.

They purchased temperature scanning machines and developed software to manage Covid and to educate the players, and the same protocols are applied with the national team, with daily health screening and temperature checks.

“That happens every day, every week,” stresses Ger Carmody, the Irish team’s head of operations.

Previously PCR tested once per week, now it will be twice in match weeks, with one at the beginning of the week and one nearer match day.

“It’s noteworthy to say that we’ve conducted 10,000 Covid tests since we started this and we have had .3 per cent of positive cases, which is 30, and I think all of the cases have been attributed to society and not the game itself, which is pretty good,” says Carmody.

“I also think we’re the only Tier 1 country that hasn’t had a game cancelled or postponed due to positive Covid tests,” he added.

False positives

As has been reported in The Irish Times, the initial postponement of the Munster-Leinster game was due to 16 false positives.

This amounts to a total of 57 games involving Irish sides since last August, none of which have been postponed or cancelled due to Covid-related reasons in their squads.

The Union also have a contact and tracing scheme, which is backed up by film footage.

“It’s not perfect. Nothing in Covid is perfect. You can only go so far or do as much as you can. It can still creep in the door, as we’ve seen before across the world.”

The squad’s bio-secure bubble is overseen by Carmody, who is the Union’s head of operations, along with Rod McLoughlin, the Union’s medical director.

Carmody has served as Irish team manager from 2005 to 2008, and has also worked on two Lions tours, as operations manager on the 2013 tour and director of operations for the 2017 tour.

He sits on an IRFU Covid committee along with McLoughlin, performance director David Nucifora, Jean Casey, (senior operations executive) supported by Ciaran Cosgrave (national team doctor), Ger Armstrong (team operations & travel manager who coordinates all Covid testing in Ireland for the provinces and national teams) and others staff joining in as required.

They meet, virtually, to review all the protocols every day.

Helpfully McLoughlin has also been on the sports experts group.

“We’ve been quite lucky that we have someone of his expertise and that he has those insights at the highest level of the country,” says Carmody.

In all of this, the Union risk-assessed every player’s home environment and in a few instances, more often young players house sharing, moved them to alternative properties.

What’s different with the Ireland squad is that they live in camp, but they’ve had to change much of their previous norms. After daily health screening, temperature checks and breakfast, everyone travels individually by car to the IRFU’s high performance centre on the Sport Ireland Campus in Abbotstown, where they train in the mornings and afternoons.

“The day is a little bit different but very good,” says Carmody. “We have a fantastic chef (at the HPC) in Maurice McGeehan. But there are an awful lot of protocols that we need to adhere to to make the day work and to be Covid-compliant.”

Good coffee

Screening has been installed at buffet stations. Only three players are allowed sit at a table for ten. Queuing is socially distanced and meal times have been reduced. There is seating plans for travel on buses and flights (all private charter).

To date the Union have spent €1.5 million on Covid-related costs, be it testing, software, staffing and resourcing.

Players room individually rather than share. In Level 5 there are no visits from entertainers or performers, such as Christy Moore, or guest speakers.

“Some guys might be doing some analysis on computers. You might have coaches sitting down with players at a social distance. We’ve moved small meetings in boardrooms to large ballrooms to ensure social distancing,” says Carmody.

There are pool tables and table tennis in a large ballroom, with protocols. But some things never change.

“I’ve always said that the three most important things that a player looks for when he comes into camp is good wifi, a good night’s sleep and good coffee,” says Carmody. “You get those three things right and you’re on to a winner, no matter where you are in the world.”

"Netflix and all those streaming services and box sets are key to keeping us all sane. I think there's an element too of some video gaming which might go on as well between rooms with their game consoles, but I wouldn't be an expert in that."

By now, a new social committee will have taken over from James Lowe, Will Connors and Finlay Bealham, who had that duty in the autumn, to organise quiz nights and the like. Down days will also be more challenging as, unlike in October, the Carton House golf course is off limits.

Human nature being what it is, the enthusiasm with which everyone in camp may embrace initially can give way to weariness or laxness.

“I have to say that the players have been fantastic at buying into this, they really have,” says Carmody.

As well as rugby-related matters, this also falls under the ambit of the players' leadership group, which will revert to its full complement of six when Tadhg Furlong rejoins the squad tomorrow alongside Garry Ringrose, Iain Henderson, James Ryan, Pete O'Mahony and Johnny Sexton.

Mentally tired

The players have regularly spoken of the way spirits were maintained, even harnessed, last autumn when they finished with their best performance, against Scotland.

Some might be affected worse than others, witness Joe Marler's preference for staying at home with his wife, who is expecting their fourth child, or the decision by Matteo Minozzi to rule himself out of the Six Nations.

I don't think anybody who was coming into camp would have said they weren't looking forward to it

The brilliant 24-year-old Wasps fullback cum winger, who has scored 11 tries in 22 Tests, explained: “I’m physically and mentally tired, a bit too much to live another two months in a bubble.”

“The coaches are great, as are the staff and medics, in working with people,” says Carmody, “and if someone is a bit down we can throw an arm around them, but yeah there are the support services there, should somebody need them, and we would be proactive in assessing how people are.”

Spirits remained good during the six-Test window from late October to early December, which entailed one block of three unbroken weeks in a bubble.

Everybody in the camp wants to be there and understands the sacrifices.

“We want to stay safe and we want to give the country something to cheer about as well, because I think we’ve all been lacking live sport and some normality. I think rugby and all sports have been great in being one thing to keep the show on the road, so to speak.”

Ultimately, while it is restrictive, it still isn’t prison.

“I don’t think anybody who was coming into camp would have said they weren’t looking forward to it,” says Carmody. “Even with the atmosphere being very different and the stadiums being quiet, you still have that buzz of international rugby and still have the same goals. That hasn’t changed.”

Many things have, but that hasn’t.

Home Games

This required months of detailed planning in tandem with Martin Murphy and the Aviva Stadium company.

The protocols for the games at home to France and England have been tightened, especially for the so-called red zone, which is reserved for the players, staff of both teams, match officials, medics, hawkeye staff, Jean Casey (senior operations executive), stadium cleaner and nurse.

Two days before Ireland play France at home on Sunday week, the squad will travel to their city centre hotel before their captain’s run the next morning.

On match-day they’ll travel to the Aviva Stadium in two buses where before it was one.

No dignitaries attend, be it the IRFU president or CEO, or indeed President Michael D Higgins.

Players and staff have to wear medical grade masks on game day. The seating is restricted to one person for each double seat on the team bus, all of which is planned in detailed and photographically recorded. On arrival everyone has to wash their hands and observe social distancing in the changing-rooms, where the stadium and the IRFU have invested in further air filtration.

A team of ball boys constantly clean the rugby balls. Both for the warm-ups and before kick-off the two teams enter the pitch separately. Two-metre social distancing will also be observed for the national anthems, possibly meaning two lines of players rather than one.

Viewers watching this might reasonable wonder, given scrums, mauls, tackles, rucks et al will follow, as to what is the point.

“But we also have to be seen to do the right thing and that people do the right thing, and we’re sending out a message too that we’re taking this very seriously,” says Carmody.

Away Games

In readiness for playing Wales next Sunday, the 23-man match-day squad, seven travelling reserves and about 20 or so core support staff, will fly over to Cardiff by private charter next Friday and stay in St David's, where the staff will also be PCR-tested.

After a captain’s run at the Principality Stadium on the Saturday afternoon (allowing for the stadium to be cleaned following the Welsh morning run) the squad will return to St David’s for a meeting and dinner, before collecting their match-day socks and shorts.

Again the squad will travel to the stadium on two buses (the branded bus will have been taken over by boat in advance). After the game, the squad will fly back to Dublin Airport, travel straight to the Carton House, have a meal and do recovery the next day before a week’s training heading into the French game.