It is almost 'game-time' - that was certainly the feeling as the Irish lacrosse team moved from its training camp base in Lakewood on the outskirts of Denver, to the heart of the city at the University of Denver campus accommodation.

In the final event before the opening ceremonies of the World Championships on Thursday evening, the Irish team took part in a controlled scrimmage against the Iroquois Nationals. The scrimmage consisted of some settled offense versus defense on both ends of the field, followed by a 20 minute quarter of full-field play.

The full field action could not have started better for the Irish. Zak Jordan won the first face-off, the Irish team got on the score sheet first thanks to Brian Gillis, and Kevin Quinn made an outstanding opening save. But that early success didn't last. The 4th ranked Iroquois demonstrated why they are considered to be the finest exponents of the game of lacrosse.

Their fluidity on offense, and constant passing and moving, tore through the Irish team. In the end, no one needed to know the exact scoreline to determine which had been the better team. Tom Burke showed some notable production for the Irish on offense, and Tadhg Bolger also acquitted himself well at the face-off as he took on Iroquois star player Jeremy Thompson.

It was a tremendous honour for the Irish team to share the field with such exceptional players, as well as native people who have received the game of lacrosse from the Creator and who have now passed it on to the 37 other nations competing in the World Championships.

Ireland's opening game on the tournament proper is on Friday where they will face tournament debutante's Uganda. In final preparation for the start of the tournament, the Irish players also named their captains - Ryan Licht, Jerry Nevin, Martin Scanlon and Mike McTernan.