JOE SCHMIDT IS set to include Jordan Larmour in the Ireland squad he names tomorrow ahead of the opening two rounds of the Six Nations.
The Ireland head coach will confirm a squad of somewhere between 35 and 40 players for the first and second round clashes with France and Italy, and it appears that 20-year-old sensation Larmour will be among them.
[image alt="Jordan Larmour" src="http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2018/01/jordan-larmour-24-630x414.jpg" width="630" height="414" caption="Larmour's%20form%20is%20difficult%20to%20resist." class="alignnone" /end]
The Leinster man, still a member of the province’s academy, has been in superb form this season and made his first start in the Champions Cup against Glasgow last weekend, once again showing his attacking qualities.
While Schmidt does not view the upcoming Six Nations as a time for experimenting, he is keen to reward form and Larmour has shown that over an extended period of time.
If Larmour is included, he may be the only uncapped player in Schmidt’s Six Nations squad, with the Ireland boss set to largely continue with the players who served him so well in November.
The summer tour to Australia is seen as a better opportunity for giving less experienced players an opportunity, with Ireland wholly focused on winning the Six Nations title after watching England claim the honours in the past two seasons.
The expectation is that Schmidt will name an experienced side for the opener against France in Paris, and if Larmour is named in the overall Six Nations squad he is likely to have to wait for his first appearance on the pitch.
Leinster flanker Jordi Murphy looks set to be included in the squad this time around, having featured against Fiji in November only after being called up as one of the injury replacements for Tommy O’Donnell and Dan Leavy.
Joey Carbery seems likely to be included too, despite only recently having returned to training following the fractured arm he suffered against Fiji.
Leinster hooker Sean Cronin may come back into the mix after missing out in November, particularly with Niall Scannell and James Tracy both currently injured, while Josh van der Flier will be among the back rows after being injured during the autumn series.
The likes of Sean O’Brien, Tommy O’Donnell, Rhys Ruddock, Adam Byrne, Garry Ringrose will likely miss out on the opening rounds of the Six Nations due to injury, while Jamie Heaslip also remains on the long-term injury list.
Ireland are due to confirm the make-up of Schmidt’s squad for the opening two rounds of the Six Nations tomorrow afternoon.
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