With 11 Irish players on tour with the Lions in New Zealand, including Irish coach Eddie O'Sullivan and captain Brian O'Driscoll, Niall O'Donovan takes over as coach, with the squad being captained by David Humphreys.

Amongst the uncapped players, there are several new faces to the Irish squad.

These include Munster second row Trevor Hogan, Leinster's Kieran Lewis and Conor McPhilips from Connacht as well as Roger Wilson, Matt McCullough, Kieran Campbell, Paddy Wallace (all Ulster), David Quinlan (Leinster) and Bernard Jackman (Connacht), who have all been involved with Irish squads in the past.

The coaching staff also sees two additions for the tour, with Connacht coach Michael Bradley and Ulster coach Mark McCall assisting O'Donovan in the Far East.

Commenting on the selection, O'Donovan said: "With such a high representation on the British & Irish Lions, the squad for Japan gives us a chance to look at players in certain areas. These include the back row and second row, where there is a glut of talent coming through, allowing us to look at options as cover for players such as Anthony Foley and also at scrum half.

"With two tough full international games against Japan, the key to the squad was getting the balance right and given that there are also six players with less then ten caps, the need for experience in key areas of the pack and in the backs was essential."

The Ireland squad will depart on Saturday, June 4 from their camp in Limerick and will play the first of their two Tests in the 55,000 capacity Nagai Stadium, Osaka on Sunday, June 12 (kick-off 2.00pm local time, 6.00am Irish time). The second Test will take place in Tokyo the following Sunday, June 19 (kick off 2.00pm local time) in the 28,000 capacity Prince Chichibu Memorial Rugby Ground.

IRELAND SQUAD (Japan Tour 2005):

Forwards (14):

Simon Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 11/02/78, 6 caps Reggie Corrigan (Greystones/Leinster) 19/11/70, 44 caps Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster) 09/01/78, 15 caps Simon Easterby (Llanelli) 21/07/75, 42 caps Trevor Hogan (Shannon/Munster) 23/09/79, - Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster) 07/09/77, 28 caps Bernard Jackman (Clontarf/Connacht) 05/05/76, - Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster) 27/11/81, 2 caps Eric Miller (Terenure College/Leinster) 23/9/75, 46 caps Matt McCullough (Ballymena/Ulster) 09/09/81, - Johnny O'Connor (Wasps) 09/06/82, 6 caps Frankie Sheahan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 27/08/76, 22 caps David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster) 08/07/76, 21 caps Roger Wilson (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 21/09/81, -

Backs (12):

Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 22/02/84, 1 cap Kieran Campbell (Dungannon/Ulster) 06/07/79, - Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster) 02/10/75, 58 caps Gavin Duffy (NEC Harlequins) 18/09/81, 2 caps Anthony Horgan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 15/11/76, 4 caps David Humphreys (Capt) (Dungannon/Ulster) 10/09/71, 67 caps Kieran Lewis (St Mary's College/Leinster) 19/08/80, - Conor McPhillips (St Mary's College/Connacht) 09/02/81, - Kevin Maggs (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 03/06/74, 69 caps David Quinlan (Blackrock College/Leinster) 04/01/78, - Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster) 13/12/77, 56 Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster) 27/08/79, -

Standby (9):

Gary Brown (Blackrock College/Leinster) 01/11/80, - James Downey (Clontarf/Connacht) 23/03/81, - Ben Gissing (Clontarf/Leinster) 15/07/75, - Shane Jennings (St Mary's College/Leinster) 08/07/81, - Chris Keane (Buccaneers/Connacht) 25/10/78, - Ronnie McCormack (Buccaneers/Ulster) 27/04/77, - Paul Shields (Ballymena/Ulster) 25/09/78, 2 caps Jeremy Staunton (NEC Harlequins) 07/05/80, 1 cap Alan Quinlan (Shannon/Munster) 13/07/74, 21 caps

Not considered due to injury:

John Kelly (Cork Constitution/Munster) 18/04/74, 16 caps

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Tour Management:

Niall O'Donovan (Coach) Joe Miles (Manager) Michael Bradley (Assistant Coach) Mark McCall (Assistant Coach) Mark Tainton (Kicking Coach) Mike McGurn (Fitness & Conditioning Coach) Michael Webb (Doctor) Cameron Steele (Physiotherapist) Brian Green (Athletic Trainer) Willie Bennett (Masseur) Mervyn Murphy (Video Analyst) Paddy O'Reilly (Baggagemaster) Karl Richardson (Communications and Media Manager)