Ireland forward Andrew Porter has paid tribute to volunteers working in the Irish Cancer Society.
Porter lost his mother, Wendy, to cancer when he was 12 years old.
Now 27, the Leinster prop is a regular starter with Ireland and expected to win his 56th cap when the team face Tonga in a World Cup Pool B tie on Saturday.
He was among the Ireland players who on Monday visited Clocheville Children's Hospital in Tours, the town southwest of Paris in which the squad are based for the tournament.
"It’s something that I dealt with a lot when I was younger and obviously didn’t have a lot of knowledge about it at the time," said Porter.
"But I think, given my status, it’s incredibly important to use that status to benefit others and I think that’s what I’m going to try and do.
"As my role as an ambassador for the Cancer Society, I’m going to use it as best I can to help and try to make other people’s lives a bit better – people who are affected by it.
"I am involved with a lot of fundraisers, very small-scale stuff.
"What I do, compared to what people who do incredible work do, the volunteers and everyone there, I’m just there to basically raise awareness and help with initiatives to boost their campaigns and everything.
"What I do is nothing compared to what the actual volunteers and the people who work there in the Irish Cancer Society do in their day-to-day work. It’s nothing compared to what they do."
As the squad enjoyed a rest day following the victory over Romania, a game played in 35C heat, team manager Mick Kearney, Porter, Mack Hansen, Joe McCarthy and Bundee Aki visited a local hospital
"It was amazing seeing the incredible work the doctors are doing in the children’s hospital," he said.
"It’s a charity that’s close to my heart.
"Obviously, I’m involved with the Irish Cancer Society.
"It was a hospital for children with cancer, so it was incredibly humbling seeing how brave those kids were, and just kind of being able to brighten their day.
"It meant a lot to myself, and I’m sure the other players who were there as well.
"Just being able to see how brave those kids are, how hard they fight every day for where they are. It’s incredible to see.
"We were throwing the ball around with them, just having the chats. We had a few signed bits for them as well. Like I said, it was incredible to see the work that goes on there. Being able to meet the kids as well, it was really nice.
"I think one or two [knew who I was], but most of them were football fans. I only have limited French as well, so I was lucky I had a translator."
On the record 82-8 win over Romania, he said: "I pulled up all right. I think I’m still struggling from the heat a bit, heat shock or something.
"It was incredibly tough playing in conditions like that. That’s the hottest I have ever played in. You probably noticed by my skin colour, I was like a strawberry.
"I think it’s a good start for us and good for us to get momentum coming into the rest of the games.
"I lost about four kilos. It’s all water weight really. We got it from our nutritionist day-in, day-out. When you’re over there, hydration is the most important thing with the heat and obviously for injury prevention as well."
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch live coverage of Ireland v Tonga (Saturday, 8pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1, and follow live updates on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News app.
