IRELAND COACH JOE Schmidt has named a 34-man squad for the November internationals against Samoa, Australia and New Zealand, with Munster prop David Kilcoyne surprisingly left out.
There are three uncapped players in the squad, with Leinster wing Dave Kearney, loose head prop Jack McGrath and Munster No. 8 James Coughlan all hoping to make their international bows this autumn.
Andrew Trimble and Paul Marshall of Ulster have been omitted.
Other names that hadn’t been particularly anticipated on the list are Tom Court and Devin Toner, but both men have been in strong form for Ulster and Leinster respectively. Iain Henderson (toe) and Donnacha Ryan (knee) both miss out due to recent injuries, while the likes of Stephen Ferris, Richardt Strauss, Tommy O’Donnell, Jordi Murphy and Simon Zebo had been ruled out previously.
Speaking about his squad selection, Joe Schmidt said:
“The squad combines players who have shown form in the domestic season mixed with those who have a proven record at international level.
“As always there were some very difficult decisions. Some players have had limited opportunity to impress due to injury and others have performed very well and it was difficult to leave them out.
“The Guinness Series will demand plenty from the squad and I know they’ll be motivated by the challenge.”
Ireland squad: Isaac Boss, Tommy Bowe, Gordon D’Arcy, Keith Earls, Robbie Henshaw, Paddy Jackson, David Kearney, Rob Kearney, Ian Madigan, Luke Marshall, Fergus McFadden, Conor Murray, Brian O’Driscoll, Eoin Reddan, Jonathan Sexton.Stephen Archer, Rory Best, James Coughlan, Tom Court, Sean Cronin, Declan Fitzpatrick, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Chris Henry, Mike McCarthy, Jack McGrath, Kevin McLaughlin, Sean O’Brien, Paul O’Connell, Peter O’Mahony, Mike Ross, Mike Sherry, Devin Toner, Dan Tuohy.