Enlarged Ireland Squad Enters First Test Week Of Bank Of Ireland Nations Series

The Ireland squad was bolstered last night by twelve players, bringing the total number of players in camp to 49 ahead of games against the All Blacks XV at the RDS on Friday (kick-off 7.45pm), and World champions South Africa at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm).

Unfortunately, Tom Ahern has been ruled out of involvement in this week’s Ireland ‘A’ fixture, but Diarmuid Barron, Caolin Blade, Jack Crowley, Shane Daly, Max Deegan, James Hume, Dave Kilcoyne, Martin Moore and Scott Penny all came through the weekend’s URC action without issue to join the squad.

Jamie Osborne and Roman Salanoa have both been declared fit after completing the return-to-play protocols, and Connacht lock Gavin Thornbury has been called up in place of Ahern.

Nathan Doak and Tom Stewart, who both featured recently for Emerging Ireland on tour in Bloemfontein, will also join the squad later in the week.

Ireland ‘A’ take on a strong All Blacks XV squad featuring Damian McKenzie, TJ Perenara, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Patrick Tuipulotu on Friday night –  tickets are available here.

The Ireland squad will continue its preparation for the sold-out opening fixture of the Bank of Ireland Nations Series against Jacques Nienaber’s Springboks at the IRFU High Performance Centre this week.

IRELAND SQUAD – BANK OF IRELAND NATIONS SERIES 2022:

Player/Club/Province/Caps –

Backs (16):

Robert Baloucoune (Enniskillen/Ulster) 2
Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Munster) 35
Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster) 5
Ciaran Frawley (Skerries/Leinster) *
Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster) 20
Mack Hansen (Connacht) 6
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 60
Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster) 23
Michael Lowry (Banbridge/Ulster) 1
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 99
Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster) 6
Calvin Nash (Young Munster) *
Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster/Naas) *
Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 44
Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) (capt) 108
Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 35

Forwards (21):

Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster) 8
Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht) 25
Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster) 33
Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 30
Gavin Coombes (Young Munster/Munster) 2
Caelan Doris (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 20
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 60
Dave Heffernan (Buccaneers/Connacht) 7
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 118
Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 28
Jeremy Loughman (Garryowen/Munster) *
Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster) *
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 87
Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 3
Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 46
Cian Prendergast (Connacht) *
James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 46
Dan Sheehan (Lansdowne/Leinster) 10
Nick Timoney (Banbridge/Ulster) 2
Kieran Treadwell (Ballymena/Ulster) 8
Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 43

IRELAND ‘A’ PANEL:

Diarmuid Barron (Garryowen/Munster) *
Caolin Blade (Galwegians/Connacht) 1 cap
Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster) *
Shane Daly (Cork Constitution/Munster) 2
Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster) 1
James Hume (Banbridge/Ulster) 3
Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 48
Martin Moore (Ulster) 10 caps
Jamie Osbourne (Naas/Leinster) *
Scott Penny (UCD/Leinster) *
Roman Salanoa (Shannon/Munster) *
Gavin Thornbury (Connacht) *

* Denotes uncapped player

Bank of Ireland Nations Series and Ireland ‘A’ Fixtures –

IRELAND ‘A’ v All Blacks XV
Friday, November 4, the RDS, kick-off 7.45pm

IRELAND v South Africa
Saturday, November 5, Aviva Stadium, kick-off 5.30pm

IRELAND v Fiji
Saturday, November 12, Aviva Stadium, kick-off 1pm

IRELAND v Australia
Saturday, November 19, Aviva Stadium, kick-off 8pm