Ireland welcome families into final training session before Grand Slam decider

Head coach Andy Farrell, with his grandson Tommy, during the Ireland rugby captain's run at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Andy Farrell with his grandson Tommy at Ireland's captain's run at the Aviva Stadium. Image: Sportsfile.

Jonathan Sexton greets his wife Laura, and children Luca, Sophie, and Amy, before the Ireland rugby captain's run at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Head coach Andy Farrell, with his grandson Tommy, during the Ireland rugby captain's run at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Andy Farrell with his grandson Tommy at Ireland's captain's run at the Aviva Stadium. Image: Sportsfile.

Head coach Andy Farrell, with his grandson Tommy, during the Ireland rugby captain's run at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Jonathan Sexton greets his wife Laura, and children Luca, Sophie, and Amy, before the Ireland rugby captain's run at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Head coach Andy Farrell, with his grandson Tommy, during the Ireland rugby captain's run at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Ruaidhri O'Connor Twitter

March 17 2023 04:32 PM

Andy Farrell invited the Ireland players' families to their final training session of the Six Nations at the Aviva Stadium, to thank them for their support in the build-up to tomorrow's Grand Slam decider against England.

All of the 23 players selected trained fully at the Aviva Stadium, where Garry Ringrose returned to the pitch for some light running as part of his recovery from the concussion he suffered against Scotland on Sunday.

The squad are in good spirits according to assistant coach Mike Catt, who explained the reasoning behind inviting the families to the stadium.

"A hell of a lot of sacrifice goes in from players, coaches, backroom staff; so it's always a nice little touch for families to come in and see what Mum and Dad does and experience the opportunity, especially at the Aviva before when the big noise happens tomorrow," Catt said.

Jonathan Sexton greets his wife Laura, and children Luca, Sophie, and Amy, before the Ireland rugby captain's run at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

"It is great they can get here.

"St Patrick's Day helps as all off school so it has fallen nicely.

"It's brilliant having kids here because it has been a long eight weeks or is it 12 weeks whatever it is now since Portugal. There is a lot of sacrifice that goes in there and great to have families in."

Catt said Ringrose is recovering well after being stretchered off at Murrayfield and has been playing a big role in the team's preparations for England.

"Garry is fine," he said.

"He was up and moving around when did we play Sunday night in the hotel with his dad.

"He got back Monday good as gold helping out with especially defensive stuff with Si Easterby, Robbie and Bundee and Stu. Garry is Garry, he wants the best for the team ultimately...he has been brilliant for us."

Ringrose presented Josh van der Flier with his jersey on the eve of the game, as the World Player of the Year prepares for his 50th Ireland cap.

"A few nice words, one nice person to another nice person," Catt said.

"The adversity he (van der Flier) has got through in his career and selection-wise and all that sort of stuff, for him to achieve that role is huge.

"And he's such a humble guy. He's worked exceptionally hard to be player of the year as well, he's an incredible guy to have in your team, he leads by example and let's hope we can do him proud tomorrow."

There is plenty of pressure on heavy favourites Ireland to deliver a Grand Slam tomorrow, but Catt says they are handling it well.

"The expectation is within ourselves," he said.

"We set out to be in this position and fortunately we’ve come through some real tough games to be in this position so for me there’s enough expectation.

"We don’t need to worry about anything else. We know what we need to do. The players understand what they need to do and it’s now being able to go and do it tomorrow afternoon.

"The pressure hasn’t ramped up at all. We love being where we are, like any other team would be, but we are coming up against a hell of an England side. There’s no bones about it, it’s going to be a proper Test match. A tough Test match.”

Further to everything else, the game is captain Johnny Sexton's final Six Nations game for Ireland.

"Johnny is Johnny, he's hopefully going to be the record points scorer tomorrow in terms of points scored in a Six Nations. He's taking over from ROG, Ronan O'Gara," Catt said.

"His presence and the way he teaches people and people get to understand why he's as good as he is through his excellence and his drive to become excellent and be bloody-minded and hard-headed in terms of playing to his potential, chasing his potential every single session.

"Players have really thrived on the back of that and and learned a lot from Johnny on the back of that. What it means for him to play for his country is huge, he epitomises the whole thing.

"So he's a great leader, he's got an amazing knowledge of the game. Working with Johnny, you can let him go and he can run the show. It's just making sure he puts the best performance in tomorrow because that's what it's all about. It's not about Johnny and his last game or last captain's run. It's about the performance of the team which is crucial for us tomorrow.

"The thing with Johnny is he is one step ahead of a game and his thought process is exceptionally quick in terms of where the next play is going.

"He has a real knack of understanding how we want to play the game obviously but then him being able to see it and the authority he drives round the team you can't but listen to him which is huge.

"One of the biggest things is he is one step ahead of the game which makes it so much easier for him and players around him to get on top of things."