ULSTER’S JAMES MCNABNEY has suffered an ACL injury in training ahead of Ireland’s two-Test summer tour against Georgia and Portugal.

The IRFU announced the news in a squad update this afternoon, while Ulster confirmed that the 22-year-old back row had undergone surgery.

It’s a big blow for the northern province as the 2025/26 season looms.

We can confirm that James McNabney has undergone surgery after sustaining an ACL injury in training ahead of the Ireland Senior Men's summer tour.

All the best with your recovery James, you'll be back stronger 💪 pic.twitter.com/spa5pvrxIH

— Ulster Rugby (@UlsterRugby) June 19, 2025

McNabney was included in Paul O’Connell’s Ireland squad as one of the additional training players, but he has been replaced by Munster’s Brian Gleeson.

Gleeson’s Munster team-mates Evan O’Connell and Diarmuid Kilgallen will also train with the squad. Kilgallen gets the nod as Calvin Nash nurses an ankle injury which will limit his on-field participation this week.

Ireland will train at the IRFU High Performance Centre today and next week before departing for Tbilisi on Wednesday, 2 July.

They face Georgia at Mikheil Meskhi Stadium on Saturday, 5 July, and play Portugal in Lisbon on Saturday, 12 July.

Ireland Men’s Squad – Summer Tour 2025

Player/Club/Province/Caps

Forwards (18)

• Tom Ahern (Shannon/Munster)*
• Jack Aungier (Lansdowne/Connacht)*
• Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster)(27)
• Jack Boyle (UCD/Leinster)(2)
• Thomas Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster)(6)
• Gavin Coombes (Young Munster/Munster)(2)
• Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster)(2)
• Cormac Izuchukwu (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(1)
• Alex Kendellen (UCC/Munster)*
• Gus McCarthy (UCD/Leinster)(4)
• Paddy McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster)*
• Michael Milne (UCD/Munster)*
• Darragh Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht)*
• Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(16)
• Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht)(4)
• Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley/Leinster)*
• Tom Stewart (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(2)
• Nick Timoney (Banbridge/Ulster)(3)

Backs (14)

• Shayne Bolton (Connacht)*
• Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster)(captain)(18)
• Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster)(24)
• Nathan Doak (Banbridge/Ulster)*
• Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster)(8)
• Hugh Gavin (Galwegians/Connacht)*
• Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster)(19)
• Ben Murphy (Clontarf/Connacht)*
• Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster)(10)
• Jimmy O’Brien (Naas/Leinster)(8)
• Tommy O’Brien (UCD/Leinster)*
• Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)(7)
• Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)(8)
• Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster)(38)

Training panellists

• Brian Gleeson (Garryowen/Munster)*
• Diarmuid Kilgallen (Garryowen/Munster)*
• Evan O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)*
• Jude Postlethwaite (City of Armagh/Ulster)*
• Zac Ward (Ballynahinch/Ulster)*

*denotes uncapped