U2 frontman Bono paid a visit on the Irish rugby team before their crunch game with England at Twickenham on Sunday afternoon.
The Dublin is a fan of the game and made the visit at the Irish team hotel on Tuesday night.
Andy Farrell said it was a "privilege" to welcome Bono as a guest and that it really benefitted the Irish team.
"We were blown away really"
Andy Farrell discusses Bono's visit to Ireland's training camp #RTERugby
Full press conference: https://t.co/IGAxjphF1M #ENGvIRE pic.twitter.com/n1LTYctoVF— RTÉ Rugby (@RTErugby) February 19, 2020
"What a man. He put real time and effort into it. He's a private guy who doesn't do many events like this, but he loves his rugby and his wife Ali came along as well.
"He told us some stories and we got a lot out of it. He's obviously a proud Irishman, so we connect to that.
"The key for us is that we do the homework on whichever guest we have coming in to make sure that we get something out of it. The lads certainly did the homework and asked the questions and got the answers that they wanted on the back of it."
At your service, Sir… and always at the service of a truly great Irish team…! Bono @JohnnySexton @IrishRugby pic.twitter.com/lhv2T4oKQg
— U2 (@U2) February 19, 2020
En Irlanda🇮🇪 el rugby es tan pasional que el mismísimo Bono (cantante de U2) se cruzó al seleccionado de rugby en la previa del encuentro frente a Inglaterra por el Seis Naciones y les sirvió la cena pic.twitter.com/ooXUrT4MdQ
— The Line Breaker (@thelinebreaker_) February 18, 2020
Similarly, Jacob Stockdale and Conor Murray also spoke of Bono's influence on the Irish team. They said that Bono even sang a song for Andy Farrell's men, but were tightlipped about what song he sang.
Stockdale said that visits like Bono's helped to build an identity in the side.
"He wants to give us a bit of an identity. He's doing that through our training, but also through things like getting to speak to Bono.
"He [Bono] talked about Irishness and what it means to be Irish and what's special about it."
Bono wasn't the only familiar face who paid a visit on the Irish squad this week.
Former Irish captain Paul O'Connell has also linked up with the Ireland squad ahead of their crucial clash with England.
O'Connell has been at the IRFU High Performance Centre this week offering his insight and sharing his experiences of playing at the famous English ground. He'll be there until Friday, according to Farrell.
Farrell said that he hoped that the former lock could learn more about management in return.
"It's great to have Paul with us. We invited him in to see what he thinks about the environment.
"We'll get some good feedback from him and hopefully he'll learn some things along the way as well."
