Andy Farrell has named six uncapped players in the 37-man Irish squad for the upcoming Bank of Ireland Nations Series fixtures against world champions South Africa, Fiji and Australia at the Aviva Stadium.
Ciarán Frawley, Jeremy Loughman, Joe McCarthy, Jimmy O’Brien and Cian Prendergast were all part of the summer tour to New Zealand and played in the games against the Maoris, while Calvin Nash has been included after featuring for the Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa.
As expected, there are number of injury-enforced absentees from this squad who featured in the historic series win over the All Blacks, most notably James Lowe, who is still sidelined by the calf injury he sustained in pre-season training, as well as the suspended Bundee Aki and the hamstrung Keith Earls.
Two other summer tourists also miss out, namely Jordan Larmour (foot injury) and James Hume, who despite not having played since he injured his groin in the first Test against the All Blacks is included in the A squad. Rónan Kelleher, Harry Byrne, Will Connors and Andrew Conway are others who have been ruled out.
Against that, Jacob Stockdale has been included despite suffering another ankle injury in Ulster’s URC round three game against Leinster after missing virtually the whole of last season. Stockdale last played for Ireland in the win over Japan in July 2021.
Another Ulster winger, Robert Baloucoune, also makes a welcome return after being ruled out of the New Zealand tour due to the torn tendon in his hip he cruelly suffered in Ulster’s URC semi-final defeat by the Stormers and which required surgery. Baloucoune also featured on the Emerging Ireland tour.
While Iain Henderson remains sidelined by the knee injury he suffered in training, the 21 forwards named in the 37-man squad all toured New Zealand.
That said, there remain concerns regarding Jamison Gibson-Park (hamstring), Hugo Keenan (abdomen and knee), James Ryan (knee), Tadhg Beirne (groin), Josh van der Flier (ankle) and Jack Conan (eye), as well as Craig Casey (groin).
An additional panel of players has been named for the Ireland ‘A’ fixture against the All Blacks XV which takes place in the RDS on Friday, November 4th.
[ Dan Biggar to miss November internationals with knee injuryOpens in new window ]
Tom Ahern, Diarmuid Barron, Jack Crowley, Shane Daly, Max Deegan, Jamie Osborne, Scott Penny and Roman Salanoa from the Emerging Ireland squad, as well as experienced frontrow forwards Dave Kilcoyne and Marty Moore, will join the squad following Round 7 of the URC.
Ireland will play the Springboks for the first time in six years when Jacques Nienaber’s World Cup-winning side return to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, November 5th (kick-off 5.30pm).
Fiji also return to Dublin for the first time since 2017 on Saturday, November 12th (kick-off 1pm), while Ireland’s final game of the series is against Australia on Saturday, November 19th (kick-off 8pm), whom they last faced in the 2018 series win Down Under.
Ireland ‘A’ take on a strong All Black XV squad on the November 4th in the RDS (kick-off 7.45pm), with tickets on sale generally. The All Black XV squad features experienced Test players such as Damian McKenzie, TJ Perenara and Patrick Tuipulotu. There are also limited tickets available for Ireland-Fiji Test.
Ireland Squad — Bank of Ireland Nations Series 2022
Backs (16)
Robert Baloucoune (Ulster/Enniskillen) 2 caps, Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 35 caps, Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 5 caps, Ciaran Frawley (Leinster/Skerries) uncapped, Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster) 20 caps, Mack Hansen (Connacht) 6 caps, Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 60 caps, Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 23 caps, Michael Lowry (Ulster/Banbridge) 1 cap, Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 99 caps, Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor) 6 caps, Calvin Nash (Munster/Young Munster) uncapped, Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster/Naas) uncapped, Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 44 caps, Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 108 caps (C), Jacob Stockdale (Ulster/Lurgan) 35 caps.
Forwards (21)
Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) 8 caps, Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 25 caps, Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 33 caps, Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 30 caps, Gavin Coombes (Munster/Young Munster) 2 caps, Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 20 caps, Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 60 caps, Dave Heffernan (Connacht/Buccaneers) 7 caps, Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 118 caps, Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 28 caps, Jeremy Loughman (Munster/Garryowen) uncapped, Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Dublin) uncapped, Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 87 caps, Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 3 caps, Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 46 caps, Cian Prendergast (Connacht) uncapped, James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 46 caps, Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 10 caps, Nick Timoney (Ulster/Banbridge) 2 caps, Kieran Treadwell (Ulster/Ballymena) 8 caps, Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 43 caps.
Ireland ‘A’ Panel:
Tom Ahern (Munster/Shannon), Diarmuid Barron (Munster/Garryowen), Caolin Blade (Connacht/Galwegians) 1 cap, Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution), Shane Daly (Munster/Cork Constitution) 2 caps, Max Deegan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 1 cap, James Hume (Ulster/Banbridge) 3 caps, Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 48 caps, Marty Moore (Ulster) 10 caps, Jamie Osbourne (Leinster/Naas), Scott Penny (Leinster/UCD), Roman Salanoa (Munster/Shannon)
