For the third year in a row, Ireland are building up towards a Guinness Six Nations championship with a warm-weather training camp in Portugal.
Unlike previous years, they are doing it without their head coach Andy Farrell, who is away prepping for the British and Irish Lions this summer. One other big difference this year is the absence of the Netflix cameras.
Having filmed two series of Six Nations: Full Contact, the streamer has decided against renewing their rugby docu-series in 2025, after ratings for the first installment failed to impress.
One of the few high points in last year's series was the focus on Ireland’s Andrew Porter, as the loosehead prop spoke openly and honestly about his mental health struggles through his teenage years following the death of his mother, Wendy, when he was 12-years-old.
Twelve months on from laying his deepest thoughts out for the world to see, the 29-year-old says it was a cathartic experience.
"I’m definitely glad that I did it," Porter (below) says, speaking from Ireland’s Algarve training base this week.
"The amount of positive feedback I got from it, the number of messages – messages of support but also people who might not have had that knowledge about me. and yeah, it resonated with a lot of people because it doesn’t just have to be people who are big into rugby.
"I think it struck a chord with a lot of people who happened to watch it beyond rugby fans. It reached a broader audience, of people who are maybe struggling with their mental health.
"I’m glad I did it, in the hope that I could shed light on how I dealt with things and what I went through. Hopefully people can use that to improve their mental health or seek help if they need it."
Life is due to get a bit busier for Porter later this year, with he and his wife Elaine expecting their first child in May. When they announced their news on social media in early January, Porter also revealed that the couple had experienced two miscarriages in 2024.
One of the reasons he felt compelled to share their story was the urge to show how players are no different from those sitting in the stands and watching on TV.
"A lot of people only see the players on the weekend when they're playing, but that's only 5% of who players are.
"We have families, life outside of rugby as well and I suppose there's a lot that can happen outside of rugby that can impact your on-field performance and vice versa. There's stuff that can happen in the game that can affect your home life as well.
"It's incredibly important, I think people only see us as rugby players and not as brothers, husbands, boyfriends or whatever - there's so much to the players other than what you see for 80 minutes on a Saturday.
"There's a lot you have to leave at the door when you come into training, particularly if you're going through tough times at home.
"It could be anything, a lot of the time you have to park it at the door and get on with your job. There are great supports in both Ireland and Leinster, but I suppose a lot of things you have to park a small bit."
The support Porter received after his work with Netflix, or detailing his and his wife’s pregnancy struggles, is one positive side of social media, but the darker side is still there.
Last year, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell came out strongly against the abuse directed at his players following their defeat to England, while recently Leinster Rugby confirmed they had turned off replies on one of their posts on 'X’, following abusive messages about one of their players.
"You get a lot of people who think they know what they're talking about, who think they know the players, who think they know how to play the game but they don't actually know because they've never done it themselves," Porter adds.
"You can bring up that quote about 'The man in the Arena' by Theodore Roosevelt whereby people might think they know what's going on, but they've no clue when it comes down to it.
"It's tough to see, because there's a lot of criticism now, people have a lot of platforms to do it now.
"People would be posting stuff and they'd be able to hide behind their social media accounts, I think people who do it are cowards."
Having turned 29 earlier this month, Porter is arguably Ireland’s most important player heading into their bid for a third Six Nations title in a row, starting with Saturday’s visit of England to Aviva Stadium.
Having spent the first chapter of his career at tighthead, the prop switched over to loosehead in the summer of 2021 where he has been an undisputed first choice.
As one of the most aggressive scrummagers in the game, Porter’s style can be polarising with referees, where he both wins and concedes a large number of penalties.
With so many different ways to interpret a scrum, winning decisions can often be a lottery, and he says he’s had to work hard to be more "stoic" on a day when referees have his card marked.
"Sometimes it’s hard to contain your emotions when you feel like you’ve been hard done by. You can’t really do much in the heat of the moment. The decision’s gone against you. The referee’s not going to change his mind.
"I’ve been through where I’ve spent nearly the game thinking: ‘I’ve been taken for a ride by the ref here’ but it doesn’t really get you anywhere.
"It’s trying to have that mental calmness when things are going for you and against you is a big thing we’re taught here and that is encouraged here in Ireland camp because you’re not always going to get every decision.
"You’re not always going to get the bounce of the ball. A lot of it is managing your reaction to things, so I’m trying to be more stoic in that way."
