IRELAND HEAD COACH Joe Schmidt has added Dan Tuohy, Tadhg Furlong and Michael Bent to his squad for rounds four and five of the Six Nations.
Veteran centre Gordon D’Arcy has been dropped from the squad.
With Ireland currently preparing for Saturday’s visit to Cardiff to take on Warren Gatland’s Wales, the Ulster lock and Leinster propping duo have been summoned as part of the training group at Carton House.
Nine-times capped Tuohy was unavailable for the opening rounds of the competition due to a thumb injury, but having proven his fitness in Ulster’s recent Guinness Pro12 fixtures against the Scarlets and Dragons, has been called up.
Furlong is uncapped at senior international level but has been impressing with Leinster. The 22-year-old is seen as a long-term rival to Marty Moore to replace Mike Ross as Ireland’s first-choice tighthead and as such, further experience at Carton House will be invaluable.
Bent famously played for Ireland almost immediately after arriving from his native New Zealand in 2012, qualifying through his Irish grandmother. The 28-year-old has not appeared for Ireland at senior level since winning two caps in that November Test series.
Schmidt has opted to leave D’Arcy out of his 36-man training squad for these final rounds of Ireland’s title defence. The 35-year-old played twice for Ireland last November, but has not been able to force his way back into Schmidt’s midfield plans.
Ulster’s Roger Wilson and Billy Holland of Munster also drop out of Ireland’s training group, having been named in the extended squad before the round three victory over England.
The likes of Craig Gilroy, Rhys Ruddock and Fergus McFadden are notable absentees from the squad list.
Ireland training squad for rounds four and five of Six Nations
Forwards (20)
Michael Bent (Dublin University/Leinster)
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster)
Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Mike McCarthy (Leinster)
Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Martin Moore (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster)
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
Tommy O’Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
Dominic Ryan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Richardt Strauss (Old Wesley/Leinster)
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Dan Touhy (Ulster)
Backs (16)
Isaac Boss (Terenure/Leinster)
Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Felix Jones (Shannon/Munster)
David Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster)
Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
Jared Payne (Ulster)
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Jonathan Sexton (Racing Metro 92)
Simon Zebo (Cork Con/Munster)
