KICKING BACK
Wexford and Dublin ‘did not train’ abroad
THE Wexford hurlers and Dublin footballers have quashed talk that recent trips abroad involved any training camp element.
Davy Fitzgerald’s Wexford were reportedly in Portugal for a five-day training trip ahead of the Leinster Hurling Championship, while the All-Ireland football champions’ weekend visit to northern France sparked speculation over whether Jim Gavin’s squad had also brought their boots.
Speaking at the launch of Sure as the official GAA statistics partner, Wexford’s Lee Chin and Dublin’s Ciarán Kilkenny were keen to set the record straight.
‘We did not train once out there,’ revealed Chin who described it merely as a team bonding trip for the bulk of the squad who travelled.
‘No, there wasn’t any training at all really to the trip,’ echoed Kilkenny as the Dublin squad laid a wreath at a memorial to the Battle of the Somme in a trip the Castleknock man described as a ‘humbling experience’.
‘We were mainly there to learn the history
and pay our respects to all the people that were involved in the war itself. I think there were over 200,00 Irish people involved in World War I, whether it was Ulster or Irish Volunteers or people for different reasons. It was fascinating to see that part of history. ‘One of Dublin GAA’s past chairpersons, Andy Kettle, his granduncle Tom Kettle would have fought and died over there as well.’ With April declared a ‘club only’ month and inter-county training camps prohibited apart from limited windows such as within 10 days of a Championship game, any teams travelling abroad have invariably sparked interest. Chin explained how the players’ trip didn’t involve any hurling. ‘No we didn’t [train]. We went out and we decided that we just wanted to relax in each other’s company, just to clear the minds.’ Very different to reports of a five-day training camp? ‘We couldn’t help but laugh at it. Last year, a few of us decided we wanted to go away to Ibiza on a trip together as a group of friends and that was all over the media then as well, that we weren’t around for the club football championship in Wexford. ‘As a group of friends I think we were entitled to do what we want to do and I don’t see why there’s a big deal made about it.’