Camp Ireland: Private Ryan takes us behind the scenes

THE Aviva Stadium is the focal point of Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations campaign as they host both England and France, in Dublin 4, over the next few weeks, but Carton House, 30 kilometres west of Lansdowne Road, is the players’ home for the championship.

The four-star hotel, spa and golf resort, outside Maynooth, Co Kildare, is an attractive prospect for anyone fancying to ‘get away from it all’ within proximity of the Irish capital. On a 1,000-acre estate, the one-time ancestral seat of the Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster is among Ireland’s greatest stately homes and boasts championship golf courses designed by Mark O’Meara and Colin Montgomerie.

After years of wasting hours of valuable match preparation in Dublin traffic, travelling from team hotels to training grounds, the greatest asset for the Ireland rugby team is that Carton is just a short walk from work.