The Irish squad and management are in Japan preparing for Saturday’s opening test against the national team.

With four games played this Lions squad now fully appreciate the severity of the task ahead of them in the test series, writes Donal Lenihan.

Despite having made exceedingly heavy weather of salvaging a point against Austria, Ireland remain on course for the World Cup finals in Russia.

Aaron Ramsey has welcomed Arsene Wenger’s new contract and says the entire Arsenal squad are happy the Frenchman is staying.

Writing here on the eve of Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Austria, I was full of confidence that we were going to win, perhaps even with a bit to spare, writes Liam Brady.

John Ryan may only have made his first start for Ireland on Saturday, but as one of the oldest members of the squad on the summer tour, it’s inevitable he is being sought out for advice.

A throwback this and not just because it was, in the main, an atavistic reversion to the old long ball game from Ireland, an all too familiar one-dimensional approach which looked like it was never going to pay off – until it did.

Now that catching Ireland looks well beyond them, Austria are turning their attention to Serbia and Wales which could benefit Martin O’Neill’s side as the World Cup campaign hurtles towards the business end.

Ronan O’Gara believes Joey Carbery has the talent to go all the way to the top and he expects that process to start kicking in this evening at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey when the 21-year-old makes his first Ireland start.

One of the first things you learn booking flights for this summer tour is that contrary to the initial IRFU missive announcing Ireland taking on the USA en route to Japan, is that it ain’t on the way to the Land of the Rising Sun.

You heard them before you saw them.

By all accounts, yesterday’s training session in Abbotstown was, as they like to say in the trade, a bit tasty. And certainly to the taste of a watching Roy Keane.

The good news from the Irish camp is that Jon Walters and Stephen Ward, both of whom had been nursing knocks to the knee, took a full part in training yesterday.

FA Cup fifth round

Ireland’s Mark Downey won a gold medal in the 30k points race at the UCI Track World Cup in Cali, Colombia, over the weekend while Lydia Gurley followed up 24 hours later with a bronze in the women’s 10k scratch race.