Roy Keane, Niall Horan and Pádraig Harrington attend Ireland Rugby training camp in Portugal

The Irish squad travelled to the Algarve on Sunday for a six-day warm weather camp.

TWO CAPTAINS: Roy Keane chats with Johnny Sexton. Pic Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

There were a number of familiar faces watching on as the Ireland Rugby squad ramped up their preparations for the Rugby World Cup.

The Irish panel travelled to the Algarve on Sunday for a six-day warm weather camp which is set to include a “conditioned training session”, as it has been described, with Pool C minnows Portugal on Wednesday.

Weekend reports suggested Head Coach Andy Farrell had arranged a behind-closed-doors match with the Portuguese in order to give captain Johnny Sexton some valuable game time during his current three-match ban but the suggestion required clarification from Simon Easterby on Tuesday.

Niall Horan and Pádraig Harrington attend training. Pic Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Sexton, without a game since the Grand Slam-clinching victory over England on March 18 due to a groin injury, was set to be involved as he continues his three-game suspension which is due to end following the final warm-up against Samoa in Bayonne on August 26, a fortnight before the opening pool game with Romania.

“It certainly isn’t a full-blown game, it’s a conditioned training session which has been a collaboration between the Portuguese coaches and ourselves around trying to create a training session which is slightly different from the norm.”

Whether the pictures were taken before or after that friendly remains unclear but what seems certain is that the Irish players and management were glad to meet Roy Keane, Niall Horan and Pádraig Harrington, who were undoubtedly wishing their compatriots luck before the World Cup begins.

Head coach Andy Farrell with Roy Keane.