Ireland Name 38-Man Squad For Six Nations’ Opening Rounds
The Ireland coaching staff has named a 38-man squad for the first two rounds of the RBS 6 Nations Championship. The squad had been reduced through injury as well as a number of Wolfhounds returning to their provinces.
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt commented: “Jack Conan and Michael Bent did well against the Saxons but will return to Leinster, as will Noel Reid who was restricted to a brief cameo as he was covering a number of positions.
“Rob Herring returns to Ulster and will look forward to having an opportunity for further game-time. Fergus McFadden has a rib cartilage injury, while Craig Gilroy will follow the return-to-play protocols after a concussion in the Wolfhounds game.”
Dave Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald are expected to be fully fit to train in preparation for next Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations opener against Italy, while Eoin Reddan and Jamie Heaslip are progressing well and are likely to be available to train fully on Tuesday.
Mike McCarthy suffered a concussion during the Wolfhounds game and will stay with the squad while completing the return-to-play protocols.
Cian Healy continues to make very promising progress following his hamstring injury. Conor Murray trained well on Friday and is expected to be fit for the Italy clash in Rome.
IRELAND Squad (2015 RBS 6 Nations Championship Rounds 1 & 2):
Backs (18) –
Isaac Boss (Terenure/Leinster)
Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Felix Jones (Shannon/Munster)
David Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster)
Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht)
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
Jared Payne (Ulster)
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Jonathan Sexton (Racing Metro 92)
Simon Zebo (Cork Con/Munster)
Forwards (20) –
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
James Cronin (Dolphin/Munster)
Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Robbie Diack (Malone/Ulster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster)
Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Mike McCarthy (Leinster)
Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Martin Moore (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster)
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster) (capt)
Tommy O’Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
Dominic Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Richardt Strauss (Old Wesley/Leinster)
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Nathan White (Galwegians/Connacht) *
* Denotes uncapped player