Ireland squad establish base camp

RUGBY WORLD CUP:IRELAND'S COUNTDOWN to the World Cup began in earnest yesterday morning as the squad took their first steps on the long road to New Zealand.

With 76 days to go ahead of 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 in Maynooth.

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 has been struggling to overcome 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 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 Stadium later in the month.

Stephen Ferris was also excused from duty by Kidney this week as he continues rehab from the 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 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 is due to meet twice more in July before the preparations are ramped up in August.

Warm-up games

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.