Munster duo Tomas O’Leary and Tony Buckley have not been included in the 32-man Ireland squad for the upcoming Six Nations clash with Italy.
O’Leary and Buckley have been demoted to the Irish Wolfhounds squad, meaning that O’Leary’s Munster colleague Peter Stringer and Leinster’s Eoin Reddan will battle it out for the number nine jersey.
Luke Fitzgerald and Rory Best return to the squad after sustaining injuring during the November internationals, while uncapped Connacht forward Mike McCarthy has been rewarded for a string of impressive performances for the Westerners with a place in the squad.
Leinster trio Rhys Ruddock, Mike Ross and Shane Horgan have also been named in the squad, as has Munster’s Jerry Flannery, who is currently recovering from a calf injury.
Speaking at the announcement of the squad, Irish coach Declan Kidney said: “As always the selection of the squad is never an easy one, but certainly the level of competition in each position is probably as great as it has ever been over the last two years.
“Players have been really pushing their performances for their provinces, so that level of competition can only be good.
“That translates into more competition for each place in the squad and then for the first selection against Italy, which can only be a good thing coming into the championship.”
Kidney continued: “The RBS 6 Nations Championship remains one of the best tournaments in world rugby. We will be treating it as a separate entity from what happens over the rest of the year and focus on building on the positives from November for the championship.”
“As we know from last year and every other time we have faced Italy, they represent a greater threat every year. The addition of their teams in the Magners League is building their experience and I think that will have an even greater influence on their national side for the championship.
“The key for us is to work hard in setting the foundations for the tournament in our first week in camp and our only focus will be on that opening game against Italy,” he added.
Ireland squad for Six Nations v Italy:
Backs: Tommy Bowe, Gordon D’Arcy, Gavin Duffy, Keith Earls, Luke Fitzgerald, Shane Horgan, Ronan O’ Gara, Brian O’Driscoll, Eoin Reddan, Jonathan Sexton, Peter Stringer, Andrew Trimble, Paddy Wallace.
Forwards: Rory Best, Tom Court, Sean Cronin, Leo Cullen, Stephen Ferris, Jerry Flannery, John Hayes, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Shane Jennings, Denis Leamy, Mike McCarthy, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Sean O’Brien, Mick O’Driscoll, Michael Ross, Rhys Ruddock, David Wallace.
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