Gallery: Ireland depart for France and a World Cup campaign of great promise

FIRST STEP: Head coach Andy Farrell, third top, and his players pictured at Dublin Airport ahead of Ireland's Aer Lingus flight to France for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

The Irish rugby team departed from Dublin today for their base in Tours. The town of 130,000 people in in north-central France, just south of Paris, will host Ireland for the duration of their Pool campaign in France. 

Andy Farrell’s squad will set up base at a five-star hotel to the north of the Loire while training daily at nearby Stade Chambrerie, a newly opened government-funded, rugby-specific facility.