Ireland Squad Named For Training Camp : Irish Rugby

The first Ireland Rugby squad of the new season has been named to take part in a preseason get together under the stewardship of new Ireland coach Declan Kidney.

The 45 man squad includes the players who toured with the Ireland team to New Zealand and Australia as well as 11 players from the Churchill Cup squad. These include Donncha Ryan and Keith Earls, both of whom will be involved in their first Ireland camp.

Gordon D'Arcy, who missed the majority of the RBS Six Nations Championship and the remainder of the season after breaking his arm against Italy, makes a welcome return to the squad, as does Andrew Trimble and Leo Cullen, who both missed the June tour due to injury.

The four day camp will take place in Cork from Tuesday, 5th August and will be worked in as part of the player's preseason fitness and conditioning programmes that they are currently undergoing with their provinces and clubs.

Ireland Coach Declan Kidney said, "The camp is an opportunity for the coaching staff to work with the players and set some foundations ahead of what is going to be an important November for us. We have a new blend of experience in the coaching staff and we felt that this camp would be key to getting the ideas of both the staff and players across ahead of the new season".

"Once we get into September, it really is a short space of time before we will arrive at our first camp ahead of the November games, so it will be important to our preparation. It is an exciting time and both the coaching staff and myself are looking forward to getting down to business and working with what is a talented squad of players".

Ireland Squad:

Neil Best (Northampton)

Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)

Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster)

Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)

Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)

Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon/Ulster)

Robert Casey (London Irish)

Tom Court (Ballymena/Ulster)

Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)

Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)

Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster)

Ian Dowling (Shannon/Munster)

Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht)

Keith Earls (Garryowen/Munster)

Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)

Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)

Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster)

John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)

Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)

Jamie Heaslip (Clontarf/Leinster)

Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster)

Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster)

Bernard Jackman (Clontarf/Leinster)

Shane Jennings (St. Mary's College/Leinster)

Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster)

Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)

Geordan Murphy (Leicester)

Donncha O' Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)

Paul O' Connell (Young Munster/Munster)

Ronan O' Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)

Malcolm O' Kelly (St. Mary's College/Leinster)

Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster)

Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster)

Tomas O'Leary (Dolphin/Munster)

Alan Quinlan (Shannon/Munster)

Eoin Reddan (Wasps)

Michael Ross (Harlequins)

Donncha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)

Jonathan Sexton (St.Mary's College/Leinster)

Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)

Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)

David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)

Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)

Roger Wilson (Northampton)

Bryan Young (Ballymena/Ulster)

Centre Chris Farrell had a NatWest 6 Nations debut to remember as his man-of-the-match performance helped Ireland to a 37-27 bonus point win over Wales at the Aviva Stadium.

Ireland skills and kicking coach Richie Murphy spoke to Irish Rugby TV about Dan Biggar, Liam Williams and Leigh Halfpenny and the attacking threats they will pose for Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 2.15pm).