Ireland Head Coach Andy Farrell has announced the squad for the upcoming Autumn Series, featuring uncapped players from Connacht and a mix of Leinster and non-Leinster personnel.
Conspicuously, there is no room for James Lowe who failed to cut a deal with Leinster and will be playing abroad next season. This comes as something of a surprise given there are nineteen Leinster players in the travelling party.
Clearly as with the Lions, Farrell will be relying heavily on Blues personnel. The are three uncapped Connacht players Billy Bohan, Sam Illo and Sean Jansen among six western-based players in the squad. Bohan was part of the Ireland squad for the Six Nations earlier this season, while Illo and Jansen - who have featured for Emerging Ireland previously - have earned first senior squad call ups after impressive seasons for their Province.
Caelan Doris will captain the Ireland squad which had a lengthy list of exclusion due to injury and comprising Jack Crowley, Ryan Baird, Shayne Bolton, Jack Boyle, Edwin Edogbo, Tom Farrell, Mack Hansen, Paddy McCarthy, Calvin Nash and Andrew Porter. Crowley's absence sees Farrell opt to take three out-half options Sam Prendergast, Harry Byrne and Ciaran Frawley on the trip.
Ireland Head Coach Andy Farrell said: “This competition will bring the best of the northern hemisphere up against their southern counterparts and the road for that Sunday evening slot for Finals Weekend in London starts now.
“We have three tough Tests against Australia, Japan and New Zealand and it’s important that we hit the ground running in this new tournament. “For us, we are aiming to build on our positive performances during the recent Guinness Men’s Six Nations.
The non-Leinster contingent across the three provinces have completed a three-day training block this week in the IRFU HPC ahead of our departure on Monday and it has given us the chance to look at the squad going forward.
"Congratulations to Billy, Sam and Sean on their selections and each of them has earned the right to be selected after their performances this season. “Their selection, allied to an experienced majority who we hope to see perform strongly for Leinster in the BKT URC final on Friday night, will add great energy to the squad which we’ve been building over the last number of campaigns.
” It might not be the first time Ireland have toured Australia and New Zealand but it is thhe first time playing competitive match.
“The experience of playing down under will be priceless for us and even though we’ll be playing in front of largely partisan home crowds, we are also excited about playing in front of a huge Irish support. "Their dedication to the team never ceases to amaze us and with a huge diaspora down under I’m sure we can count on a large Irish following in Sydney, Newcastle and then on to Auckland.
" Ireland open their Nations Championship campaign against Australia at a sold-out Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Saturday, 4 July , before going head-to-head with Japan at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle on Saturday, 11 July . Farrell’s side then travel to Auckland for a Round 3 clash with New Zealand on Saturday, 18 July , with all matches in the Nations Championship live on Virgin Media One and Virgin Media PLAY in the Republic of Ireland and ITV in the United Kingdom.
*Forwards :* Tadhg Beirne Billy Bohan * Thomas Clarkson Jack Conan Caelan Doris Tadhg Furlong Sam Illo * Cormac Izuchukwu Sean Jansen * Rónan Kelleher Jeremy Loughman Joe McCarthy Darragh Murray Tom O’Toole Cian Prendergast James Ryan Dan Sheehan Tom Stewart Nick Timoney Josh van der Flier *Backs :* Bundee Aki Rob Baloucoune Harry Byrne Craig Casey Nathan Doak Ciaran Frawley Jamison Gibson-Park Robbie Henshaw Hugo Keenan Stuart McCloskey Jimmy O’Brien Tommy O’Brien Jamie Osborne Sam Prendergast Garry Ringrose Jacob Stockdale Saturday, 4 July: Australia v Ireland, Allianz Stadium, Sydney, 8.10pm local time/11.10am Irish time Saturday, 11 July: Japan v Ireland, McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, 8.10pm local time/11.10am Irish time
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