IN addition to the internationals against Western Samoa on Tuesday night, Australia on November 23rd and Italy on January 4th the Ireland squad will also enjoy some warm weather training in The Algarve prior to the International Championship.

The squad will travel to Portugal on December 29th and return on January 2nd. The original intention was that the Ireland party would go a day earlier, but manager Pat Whelan has deferred the departure date so that players with English clubs are available for league matches on the 28th. There are no matches in the Insurance Corporation All Ireland league that day.

The squad will fly to The Algarve from London on the morning of 29th December. The home players will assemble in Dublin on the 28th and fly to London that night to link up with the England based players.

The Ireland squad trained in The Algarve five years ago. The squad went to Atlanta last season to prepare for the championship, but the weather there was far from winter heat. The test match against the United States was played in atrocious conditions and on a flooded surface.