Poland now at centre of duo's chances

RUGBY/Six Nations Championship: Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy left for Spala in Poland on Sunday and will remain at the state-of-the-art athletics base until Friday in a bid to recover from the hamstring injuries they sustained in Ireland's opening Six Nations match against Italy.

The Ireland captain and his midfield cohort missed last Saturday's victory over Scotland at Murrayfield but in a bid to rehabilitate them in time for Sunday week's game against England at Lansdowne Road, they have been dispatched to Spala for some intensive work. Overseeing that rehab is the IRFU's Athletic Trainer Brian Green, who will implement a programme devised by the union's medical team and Director of Fitness Liam Hennessy.

It was the latter who first persuaded the IRFU to head for Poland, extolling the virtues of the camp that eschews any distraction, situated as it is in a forest, miles from civilisation. An Ireland senior national squad first went there in 2001 for 21 days, but in subsequent years that sojourn has been cut to 10 days.

Given the huge physical workload last season coming off a World Cup, Six Nations Championship and tour to South Africa, Spala could not be accommodated into the schedule. It is though the perfect environment to send the injured Ireland duo of O'Driscoll and D'Arcy.

Hennessy explains: "We've obviously been there before and the training facilities are unlike any that you would find in Ireland or Britain for that matter.

"You have swimming pools, a full sized indoor athletics arena with a reduced hardness surface; that is to say that it is synthetic but cushioned. There are power and weight-lifting facilities, an expanse that would be bigger than half the size of Lansdowne Road, an outdoor running track and a rugby pitch.

"It also has a cryotherapy facility. That is basically a very large freezing chamber that speeds up the recovery from the fatigue of training. Though it has not been precisely documented we have noticed very significant increases in the strength, power and speed of players from training in those conditions."

The players are in close proximity to Olympic champions in several codes and one big fan of Irish rugby is the world record holder at 800 metres Kenyan born, Danish passport holder Wilson Kipketer. Apart from a little star gazing there are no distractions, allowing a total focus on training. In essence the cryotherapy chamber allows players to train harder. After a physical session, players would go into the chamber set at minus 60 degrees Celsius before spending between two and three minutes in the main chamber itself where the temperature is minus 125 degrees Celsius.

Hennessy pointed out: "The cold penetrates so deep, it's a massive hit. The players come out almost in a state of euphoria, happy just to be out. Then they'll exercise immediately for about 20 to 30 minutes. The rejuvenation is huge, amazing. O'Driscoll and D'Arcy will have a regimented routine. They will rehab, go for therapy, rest and eat and that cycle will be repeated two or three times a day. The environment means that there are no ancillary distractions." The postcards will probably be a bit dull though.

The Ireland team management has said that it won't be in a position to comment on the fitness of the two players until next Sunday when they undergo a thorough medical assessment. The 22-man Ireland squad on duty for the Six Nations victory over Scotland enjoyed their own day of rehabilitation yesterday, but will spend today and tomorrow training as they prepare for the England match.

Eight players returned to the Ireland camp - Alan Quinlan (Munster), Bernard Jackman (Connacht), Denis Leamy (Munster), Gary Longwell (Ulster), Simon Best (Ulster), Tommy Bowe (Ulster), Shaun Payne (Munster) and Anthony Horgan (Munster) - for training purposes. The camp will break up tomorrow afternoon before reconvening at the weekend, when the preparation for the England game begins in earnest.

There are no injury concerns arising out of the Scottish match and Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan would dearly love to add his two centres to that clean bill of health. By virtue of their victory at Murrayfield, Ireland have now moved up to fifth in the IRB world rankings, with England dropping from fourth to sixth.

1 (1) New Zealand90.90

2 (2) Australia88.58

3 (3) South Africa85.78

4 (5) France85.12

5 (6) IRELAND83.61

6 (4) England83.50

7 (7) Wales79.58

8 (8) Argentina77.63

9 (10) Fiji74.17

10 (9) Scotland73.94

(Previous ranking in brackets)