IRELAND HEAD COACH Joe Schmidt has named a 34-man squad ahead of this weekend’s Six Nations fixture in Rome.
Having bounced back from an opening round defeat to England with victory over Scotland 10 days ago, the reigning champions face Conor O’Shea’s side at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.
Munster centre Chris Farrell, who has been nursing a knee injury picked up in the Pro14 win over Southern Kings last Friday, is included and trained today after being deemed fit by the Ireland medical team.
However, Leinster centre Garry Ringrose and his club-mate Rhy Ruddock both miss out through hamstring injuries.
Ulster’s Will Addison is another absentee due to stiffness in his lower back.
Iain Henderson and Tadhg Beirne both return to the set-up, although the former faces a disciplinary hearing today after being cited for an incident involving Sam Cross during Friday’s Pro14 win over the Ospreys.
Andrew Porter has been omitted from the squad in order to get game time in Leinster’s Pro14 clash with the Kings on Friday.
Ireland squad v Italy
Front rows:
Cian Healy, Jack McGrath, Dave Kilcoyne, Tadhg Furlong, John Ryan, Rory Best, Sean Cronin, Niall Scannell
Second rows:
James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne, Iain Henderson, Ultan Dillane, Quinn Roux
Back rows:
Peter O’Mahony, Jack Conan, Sean O’Brien, Jordi Murphy, Josh van der Flier
Halfbacks:
Conor Murray, John Cooney, Caolin Blade, Johnny Sexton, Joey Carbery, Jack Carty
Centres:
Bundee Aki, Robbie Henshaw, Chris Farrell, Tom Farrell
Back threes:
Rob Kearney, Keith Earls, Jacob Stockdale, Adam Byrne, Jordan Larmour, Andrew Conway
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