'They just like food and lots of it' - Irish rugby's recipe for World Cup success

The IRFU’s head nutritionist Emma Gardner is tasked with keeping Andy Farrell's squad well fuelled. 

OFF MENU: IRFU head of nutrition Emma Gardner during a  media conference at Complexe de la Chambrerie in Tours. Picture: Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

If food is mood, as the IRFU’s head nutritionist Emma Gardner insists, the Ireland’s World Cup squad must be eating very heartily indeed.

Gardner knows what she is talking about. Having been involved with Great Britain’s Olympic gold medal-winning women’s hockey team at Rio 2016 and also England’s 2019 Cricket World Cup triumph she knows the recipe for providing teams with a successful nutritional programme on which a successful campaign can be based.