By the end of a resourceful day in the rain-sodden west, the cloud which hung over the Irish squad get-together in Galway proved to be more figurative than literal. Invariably, the talk was of England's exclusion from the Five Nations.

Donal Lenihan, the Irish team manager, spoke for all when he spoke of his "disappointment" over the evening's bombshell new. England were due to be Ireland's third opponents in the Five Nations at Lansdowne Road, which is invariably the game which carries the biggest appeal for spectators and players alike in any two-year cycle.

"Everybody loves playing against England, especially in Dublin. When we told the players the news they were all disappointed, especially those players based in England, all of whom would have been looking forward to that match.

"We'd hope that the situation will resolve itself but these things are beyond our control. All we can do is carry on preparing as normal."

To that end, yesterday's get-together was a bit of a damp squib. The weather was so inclement, and the state of the local pitches so bad that the planned outdoor afternoon session was abandoned. The backs went to a gym in Galway under the supervision of fitness trainer Craig White.

Meantime, the forwards went through a rigorous one-and-a-half hour scrummaging session, encompassing back-row moves, under the watchful eye of Warren Gatland on the pristine rear lawns of the Connemara Coast Hotel in Furbo.

There were still almost 100 local school pupils in attendance, and the session showed the worth of the union's investment in a state-of-the-art, mobile scrummaging machine purchased from England at Gatland's behest.

Keith Wood, sporting a black eye and still chipper over his drop goal in Harlequins' defeat to Northampton on Saturday, did not take part, while exams prevented John McWeeney attending.

Nonetheless, all in all, it was a worthwhile day's work according to Lenihan. "It was very productive and way better than we could have hoped for. One of the main purposes of this specific get-together was organisational and we had a long chat in the morning outlining the itinerary for the year.

"We achieved a lot and come rain, hail or snow, we'll be training tomorrow," added Lenihan. And given the weather hereabouts, it's liable to be all three - at once.

In another first, after the session, six of the squad were randomly drug tested as part of the IRFU's campaign to keep the sport clean.