JOE SCHMIDT HAS called Jared Payne and Joey Carbery back into his 37-man Ireland squad for the final two rounds of the 2017 Six Nations.
Leinster back row Jack Conan has returned to the squad too, while in-form Munster man Dave Kilcoyne has also been called up.
Ulster centre Payne returned from a kidney injury earlier than expected last weekend, featuring off the bench in Ulster’s Pro12 win over Zebre.
The 31-year-old last played for Ireland in the November Test win against Australia, when he was forced off at half time with what transpired to be a serious kidney injury.
However, he has now fully recovered and should get more game time this weekend for Ulster against Treviso, meaning he comes into contention for a place in Ireland’s match day squad for the final two rounds against Wales and England.
Carbery, meanwhile, has played three times for Leinster in recent weeks, having recovered from an ankle injury, and now returns to the Ireland squad in place of Munster’s Ian Keatley.
21-year-old Carbery made his Ireland debut last November in the win against New Zealand in Chicago, and won further caps against Canada and Australia.
He started at fullback for Leinster in last weekend’s win against the Dragons but is predominantly seen as an out-half by Schmidt and the Ireland coaching staff.
Fullback Rob Kearney, who suffered a groin injury in last weekend’s win against France, is included in the Ireland squad.
Ulster’s Tommy Bowe, meanwhile, is absent after featuring in the squad that prepared for the France clash.
Connacht lock Ultan Dillane’s name was missing from the IRFU’s original press release, but the union has since stated that Dillane is part of the squad.
Ireland squad for final two rounds of 2017 Six Nations:
Forwards (19):
Rory Best (captain)
Jack Conan
Ultan Dillane
Tadhg Furlong
Cian Healy
Jamie Heaslip (vice-captain)
Iain Henderson
Dave Kilcoyne
Dan Leavy
Jack McGrath
Sean O’Brien
Tommy O’Donnell
Peter O’Mahony
Quinn Roux
Donnacha Ryan
John Ryan
Niall Scannell
CJ Stander
Devin Toner
James Tracy
Backs (17):
Joey Carbery
Andrew Conway
Keith Earls
Craig Gilroy
Robbie Henshaw
Paddy Jackson
Rob Kearney
Kieran Marmion
Luke Marshall
Luke McGrath
Conor Murray
Tiernan O’Halloran
Jared Payne
Garry Ringrose
Jonathan Sexton
Andrew Trimble
Simon Zebo
- This article was updated at 12.30pm to indicate that Ultan Dillane is part of the squad, after the Connacht man was erroneously ommitted from the original IRFU press release.
