Ireland Squad Named For Summer Tour To Australia

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has announced a 32-man squad, which includes two uncapped players, for the forthcoming three-Test summer tour to Australia.

Leinster out-half Ross Byrne and Munster-bound forward Tadhg Beirne have been included in the touring party which will be captained by Rory Best.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt commented: “This has probably been the most difficult selection process for the coaching group to date. We sat down on Monday morning to review the last pieces of footage and to discuss the balance and combinations that we felt we might need in Australia.  
 
“At midday today (Wednesday) we made the final decisions, which included a number of very tough calls, and some players are incredibly unlucky to miss out on selection.  
 
“Over the past couple of months the national coaches have spent time in the provinces and been in communication with the provincial coaches who have done a super job in managing the players across the season. 
 
“The coaching group are excited by the challenge that this three-Test tour will present, and from talking to the players we get a sense that they too are excited about going on tour and testing themselves against one of the best sides in the world in their own backyard.”

The summer of 2010 was the last time that Ireland played the Wallabies in Australia with the hosts winning 22-15 at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. The men in green return to Suncorp for the first Test of the 2018 series on Saturday, June 9.

Ireland will play their first Test against Australia in Melbourne since 2008 where last time out the Wallabies claimed an 18-12 victory. The second Test of the 2018 series will take place at AAMI Park on Saturday, June 16.

The final Test of the series will take place on Saturday, June 23 at Allianz Stadium in Sydney. Australia hosted Ireland at this venue is 1994 with the Wallabies winning 32-18.

The three games will be broadcast live on Sky Sports (TV) and RTE 2fm (radio). Supporters can follow all the news from the summer tour here on IrishRugby.ie and the IRFU’s social media channels.

IRELAND Squad (Summer Tour To Australia, June 2018):

Player/Club/Province/Caps –

Backs (14):

Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 7
Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster) *
Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Leinster) 10
Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 6
John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster) 1
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 67
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 33
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 83
Jordan Larmour (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 3
Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) 21
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 64
Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 13
Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 73
Jacob Stockdale (Ballynahnch/Ulster) 9

Forwards (18):

Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) 111 (capt)
Tadhg Beirne (Scarlets) *
Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 7
Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 61
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 23
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 78
Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 38
Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 3
Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster) 9
Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 47
Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) 20
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 47
Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 7
Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht) 5
James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 8
John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 13
CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 23
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 58

* Denotes uncapped player

IRELAND Summer Tour Fixtures –

Saturday, June 9
Australia v IRELAND
Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, kick-off 8.05pm local time/11.05am Irish time

Saturday, June 16
Australia v IRELAND
AAMI Park, Melbourne, kick-off 8.05pm local time/11.05am Irish time

Saturday, June 23
Australia v IRELAND
Allianz Park, Sydney, kick-off 8.05pm local time/11.05am Irish time