The Ireland rugby squad hit the freezing waters of Cape Town on the first day of their three-Test tour with the South Africa.
Head coach Joe Schmidt is preparing for their 15th Test of the season when they take on the team ranked second in the world this Saturday (4pm Irish) and after a light walk-through training session at the Newlands Stadium, the squad dipped their toes in the chilly waters of Atlantic Ocean.
Ireland team manager Mick Kearney said that the main priority is to dust off the tiredness following the delayed 11-hour flight from London.
“It’s really a question of just acclimatising,” he told Irish Rugby TV.
“Cape Town is an hour ahead of Ireland, so there’s no real jet-lag, but there is a fair bit of tiredness in the bodies.”
The squad will have “full-on” session at the Newlands Stadium tomorrow and Thursday with a “down-day” sandwiched in between.
Meanwhile the head coach has dismissed fears of burnout ahead of the daunting challenge against the Springboks.
"From my perspective, our game minutes are down this year so our players have actually played a little bit less this year compared to last year," he said.
"It's a World Cup year - any year post-World Cup, I agree, that season is long.
“From that perspective, it is tough. From the coaches’ perspective, we're incredibly excited about the opportunity this gives us.”
