Johnny Sexton named Ireland captain for Six Nations campaign

Johnny Sexton has been appointed Ireland captain for the Guinness Six Nations, while new head coach Andy Farrell has named five uncapped players in his 35-man squad.
By The Newsroom
Published 15th Jan 2020, 17:01 BST
Johnny Sexton has been appointed Ireland captainJohnny Sexton has been appointed Ireland captain
Johnny Sexton has been appointed Ireland captain

Fly-half Sexton takes on the role following the retirement of vastly-experienced former skipper Rory Best.

Leinster trio Ronan Kelleher, Caelan Doris and Max Deegan are among the potential Test debutants selected for the tournament, along with Ulster pair Billy Burns and Tom O'Toole.

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Sexton, who has won 88 caps for Ireland, has not played since suffering a knee injury playing for Leinster in early December but, according to his club side, is making "good progress" in his recovery.

The 34-year-old's only previous experience of captaining his country came in October during the World Cup pool stage win over Russia.

"We have appointed Johnny as captain for the Six Nations Championship, you can see what it means to him and the enthusiasm he will bring to the role," coach Farrell told the Irish Rugby Football Union website.

"He has been developing as a leader for a number of years with Ireland, Leinster and the Lions and he will be a positive voice for the group."

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Ireland begin the tournament on Saturday, February 1 at home to Scotland.

Sexton said: "First of all it's a massive honour to be asked to do it and I obviously got a taste for it during the World Cup for that one game and I've done it in patches with Ireland in-game when either Rory or Pete have gone off in previous games.

"It's something that I enjoy but ultimately it's a huge honour, the biggest honour of my career to be asked to do it and I'm really looking forward to it and looking forward to the challenges that are coming up and hopefully we can have a successful Six Nations."

IRELAND 2020 Guinness Six Nations Squad

Forwards (19)

Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster) 0 caps

Caelan Doris (UCD/Leinster) 0 caps

Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht) 14 caps

Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 41 caps

Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 95 caps

Dave Heffernan (Buccaneers/Connacht) 1 cap

Iain Henderson (Academy/Ulster) 53 caps

Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 8 caps

Ronan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster) 0 caps

Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 36 caps

Jack McGrath (St Mary’s College/Ulster) 56 caps

Jack O’Donoghue (UL Bohemians/Munster) 2 caps

Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 64 caps

Tom O’Toole (Banbridge/Ulster) 0 caps

Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 23 caps

James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 23 caps

CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 38 caps

Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 67 caps

Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 23 caps

Backs (16)

Will Addison (Enniskillen/Ulster) 4 caps

Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 23 caps

Billy Burns (Ulster) 0 caps

Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster) 3 caps

Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 18 caps

John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster) 8 caps

Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 82 caps

Chris Farrell (Young Munster/Munster) 9 caps

Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 40 caps

Dave Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster) 19 caps

Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 21 caps

Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) 19 caps

Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 78 caps

Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 28 caps

Jonathan Sexton (St Marys College/Leinster) 88 caps CAPTAIN

Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 25 caps

Development Players

Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster)

Robert Baloucoune (Enniskillen/Ulster)

Harry Byrne (Lansdowne/Leinster)

Will Connors (UCD/Leinster)

Related topics:IrelandJohnny SextonUlsterSix Nations