The coach transfer to the Moat House Hotel took less than an hour and the squad confined themselves to a simple muscle stretching session supervised by fitness advisor Fergal O Callaghan.

Yesterday evening the squad and management went into the market town that is Cheltenham for their evening meal returning to the hotel at around 9pm.

Today (Friday) the early risers for breakfast were Gordon McIlwham, Marcus Horan and Donncha O Callaghan who had the benefit of the early morning sunshine which streamed through the windows in sharp contrast to the lashing rain that greeted their arrival in England yesterday.

The morning will be given to R&R, some of the squad opting to return to Cheltenham for an hour or so while coach Alan Gaffney and assistant Brian Hickey take themselves off to inspect the pitch the squad will use for their afternoon training.

At 5pm they will all travel to Kingsholm for the traditional walk-out on the pitch.