Roy Keane, Niall Horan and Pádraig Harrington visit Irish Rugby training camp

James Cox

The Irish rugby team had some special guests at their training camp in Portugal on Wednesday as they were joined by Roy Keane, Niall Horan and Pádraig Harrington.

Andy Farrell's side are in the Algarve for a warm weather training camp ahead of the Rugby World Cup, which kicks off in France next month.

The trip is expected to include a behind-closed-doors game against Portugal, which will give captain Johnny Sexton some much-needed playing time.

Sexton has been out with a groin injury since the Grand Slam victory over England on March 18th. He is currently serving a three-game suspension after admitting misconduct against match officials following Leinster's Champions Cup final loss to La Rochelle in May.

Farrell said: “It certainly isn’t a full-blown game, it’s a conditioned training session which has been a collaboration between the Portuguese coaches and ourselves around trying to create a training session which is slightly different from the norm.”

Along with the session with Portugal, the Irish team undoubtedly enjoyed the visit from Keane, Horan and Harrington.

They were pictured in good spirits along with the Manchester United legend, major-winning golfer, and famed musician.

Keane is a big rugby fan and has been invited to speak to the squad before. He was seen laughing with Sexton, who is a Manchester United supporter.