Ireland have shrugged off an injury-hit build-up to their Nations Championship campaign, with forwards coach Paul O’Connell insisting the squad has arrived in Australia in “good shape and good form”.
Andy Farrell’s side open their tournament against the Wallabies in Sydney on 4 July before taking on Japan and New Zealand later in the tour.
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Despite losing captain Caelan Doris and wing Tommy O’Brien to injury before departure, O’Connell said the squad has quickly settled into life on the road.
“From my impression of the lads, since they’ve come in, the eagerness to work, the eagerness to train, has been great,” he said.
“It’s always a change when you come abroad on tour and you’re in a different hotel and a different city. So yeah, I think they’re in good shape and good form.”
Dan Sheehan will captain Ireland during the three-Test tour, while uncapped Ulster brothers Bryn and Zac Ward have been called into the squad alongside Connacht trio Billy Bohan, Sam Illo and Sean Janse.
O’Connell believes touring together helps accelerate the team’s development.
“We trained our first time yesterday. Sometimes you can judge how things are in the afternoon with big numbers of boys sitting together around laptops, watching training together, getting realigned,” he said.
“So yeah, enthusiasm is great, and I think they’re excited to be away.”
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He added that spending weeks together away from home allows the squad to make significant strides.
“I think you learn a lot about each other as a group. We tend to get an awful lot of work done when we’re on tours.
“We tend to take big strides as a team in terms of trying to improve and evolve.”
Ireland head into the tournament after finishing runners-up to France in this year’s Six Nations and will be aiming to carry that momentum into a demanding three-Test tour.
– AFP
Photo by MB Media/Getty Images
The post Ireland back themselves despite setbacks appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Ireland have shrugged off an injury-hit build-up to their Nations Championship campaign, with forwards coach Paul O’Connell insisting the squad has arrived in Australia in “good shape and good form”.
The post Ireland back themselves despite setbacks appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
