Six Nations: Ireland name 38-man squad for opening two rounds of Championship

Uncapped Connacht trio Caolin Blade, Jack Carty and Tom Farrell have been named in a 38-man Ireland squad for the opening two rounds of year’s Six Nations championship.
By Richard Mulligan
Published 16th Jan 2019, 15:22 BST
Updated 7th Feb 2019, 17:28 BST
The Ireland team celebrate winning the Grand SlamThe Ireland team celebrate winning the Grand Slam
The Ireland team celebrate winning the Grand Slam

Ulster lock Iain Henderson is included having made a speedy recovery from a thumb injury that was expected to rule him out for most of the tournament.

However, Ulster hooker Rob Herring has not been included.

Grand Slam-winning flanker Dan Leavy has missed out on selection alongside Leinster teammate Ross Byrne.

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Ireland open the defence against England in Dublin on Saturday February 2 before going to Scotland the following weekend.

Joe Schmidt, Ireland head coach commented, “It’s been great to watch the provincial teams doing so well in recent weeks. With another very competitive round of EPCR this weekend, the following Ireland squad for the first two matches of the Six Nations has been selected, knowing that late changes may be required, depending on how the matches go in the weekend. There have been a number of tight calls across almost every position.

“In the front row, Finlay Bealham was very close, as was Marty Moore, who is getting back to the form that saw him win 10 caps in the past and Stephen Archer was at his combative best in Gloucester at the weekend. Rob Herring is very unlucky as his performances for the National team have been first rate,” added Schmidt.

IRELAND SQUAD:

Forwards (21)

Rory Best (Ulster/Banbridge) 113 caps (c)

Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 4 caps

Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 11 caps

Sean Cronin (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 65 caps

Ultan Dillane (Connacht/Corinthians) 11 caps

Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 28 caps

Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 84 caps

Iain Henderson (Ulster/Queens University) 42 caps

Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 24 caps

Jack McGrath (Leinster/St Marys College) 53 caps

Jordi Murphy (Ulster/Lansdowne) 26 caps

Sean O’Brien (Leinster/UCD) 52 caps

Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 52 caps (vc)

Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 11 caps

Rhys Ruddock (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 21 caps

James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 13 caps

John Ryan (Munster/Cork Constitution) 16 caps

Niall Scannell (Munster/Dolphin) 11 caps

CJ Stander (Munster/Shannon) 28 caps

Devin Toner (Leinster/Lansdowne) 63 caps

Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 13 caps

Backs (17)

Will Addison (Ulster/Enniskillen) 3 caps

Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 12 caps

Caolin Blade (Connacht/Galwegians) 0 caps

Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 16 caps

Jack Carty (Connacht/Buccaneers) 0 caps

Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 10 caps

John Cooney (Ulster/Terenure College) 4 caps

Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) 72 caps

Chris Farrell (Munster/Young Munster) 3 caps

Tom Farrell (Connacht/TBC) 0 caps

Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 36 caps

Rob Kearney (Leinster/UCD) 87 caps

Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 9 caps

Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 67 caps

Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 17 caps

Jonathan Sexton (Leinster/St Marys College) 78 caps (vc)

Jacob Stockdale (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 14 caps

Related topics:IrelandMunsterSix NationsUlsterIain Henderson