Declan Kidney has thrown up precious little surprises in announcing the 24-man squad for the upcoming Six Nations tournament.
The Ireland coach is traditionally not a man for dramatic changes and he has gone with the tried and trusted approach, with not one new cap amongst the 24 players selected in the senior squad.
Leinster duo Luke Fitzgerald and Isaac Boss will be amongst those disappointed to miss out, but both will have a chance to prove their worth when the Irish Wolfhounds take on the English Saxons on 30 January.
In addition to the senior and Wolfhounds squads, six additional players, including exciting Munster prospects Simon Zebo and Peter O’Mahony, will train with the senior squad for their first week of camp in Limerick.
Speaking about his selection, Kidney said: “The Wolfhounds game gives myself and the other coaches one final chance to give games to players to see possible options before we settle on our match day 22 for the opening game.
“It also gives us the opportunity to have a closer look in training at some of the younger players, rather than bringing in more experienced players, who are very much still in the frame for selection.
“There have been some strong performances by players with the Provinces going really well. It always gives the squad a good boost when we have teams with players playing well in Europe before we step back up into the international scene.”
Ireland kick off their Six Nations campaign against Wales in the Aviva Stadium on 5 February and the harrowing memory of our insipid performance against the same opposition at the World Cup only months ago is bound to be fresh in the minds of Irish rugby supporters.
Ireland Training Squad:
Rory Best (Banbridge – Ulster)
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
Tom Court (Malone – Ulster)
Sean Cronin (St.Mary’s College – Leinster)
Leo Cullen (Blackrock College – Leinster)
Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne – Leinster)
Keith Earls (Young Munster – Munster)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon – Ulster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf – Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Naas – Leinster)
Shane Jennings (St.Mary’s College – Leinster)
Rob Kearney (UCD – Leinster)
Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere – Leinster)
Conor Murray (Garryowen – Munster)
Sean O’Brien (Clontarf – Leinster)
Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution – Munster)
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster – Munster)
Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution – Munster)
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne – Leinster)
Mike Ross (Clontarf – Leinster)
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon – Munster)
Jonathan Sexton (St.Mary’s College – Leinster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena – Ulster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena – Ulster)
Additional Players:
Ian Nagle (Cork Constitution – Munster)
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution – Munster)
Tiernan O’Halloran (Galwegians – Connacht)
Paddy McAllister (Ballynahinch – Ulster)
Andrew Conway (Blackrock College – Leinster)
Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution – Munster)
O2 Ireland Wolfhounds squad:
Stephen Archer (Cork Constitution – Munster)
Isaac Boss (Terenure College – Leinster)
Gavin Duffy (Galwegians – Connacht)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College – Leinster)
Chris Henry (Belfast Harlequins – Ulster)
Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution – Munster)
David Kearney (Lansdowne – Leinster)
Ian Keatley (Young Munster – Munster)
Ronan Loughney (Buccaneers – Connacht)
Ian Madigan (Blackrock College – Leinster)
Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers – Connacht)
Kevin McLaughlin (St.Mary’s College – Leinster)
John Muldoon (Galwegians – Connacht)
Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin – Munster)
Eoin O’Malley (Old Belvedere – Leinster)
Rhys Ruddock (St.Mary’s College – Leinster)
Mike Sherry (Garryowen – Munster)
Nevin Spence (Ballynahinch – Ulster)
Devin Toner (Lansdowne – Leinster)
Dan Touhy (Ballymena – Ulster)
Damien Varley (Garryowen – Munster)
Brett Wilkinson (Galwegians – Connacht)
Not considered due to injury:
Brian O’Driscoll, David Wallace, Darren Cave, Felix Jones, Jerry Flannery, Eoin Griffin, Denis Leamy, Niall Ronan.
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