Murphy Returns To Ireland Squad
The fit-again Geordan Murphy has been included in a 32-man Ireland squad for this week’s preparations for the RBS 6 Nations clash with England at Twickenham next Saturday.
On Sunday evening, the Irish management named an extended panel of players ahead of Ireland’s next outing in the 2010 RBS 6 Nations Championship against England.
18 of the players from the matchday squad that face France are included, with the suspended Jerry Flannery and the injured trio of Rob Kearney, Donnacha Ryan and Sean O’Brien being the four enforced absentees.
Geordan Murphy, who dislocated his shoulder in September, returns to the squad following a try-scoring performance for Leicester Tigers in their 33-11 win over Gloucester on Saturday.
Connacht hooker Sean Cronin, who scored against the Ospreys on Sunday, has made the cut, along with seven other players who featured for the Ireland Wolfhounds against Scotland ‘A’ recently – Gavin Duffy, Johne Murphy, Marcus Horan, Tony Buckley, Dan Tuohy, Shane Jennings and Chris Henry.
Having continued his recovery from a knee injury at a Munster training camp last week, second row Donncha O’Callaghan is pushing for selection, as is recent Ireland debutant Kevin McLaughlin.
Meanwhile, the selected Irish backs division also includes Ulster’s Andrew Trimble, who played recently against Italy, Leinster winger Shane Horgan and Munster’s Denis Hurley.
The starting line-up and replacements to take on England next Saturday afternoon will be confirmed by Ireland head coach Declan Kidney on Tuesday.
IRELAND Training Squad (v England, RBS 6 Nations Championship):
Backs (15) –
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht)
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster)
Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Johne Murphy (Leicester Tigers)
Geordan Murphy (Leicester Tigers)
Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster)
Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
Forwards (17) –
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster)
Shane Jennings (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Kevin McLaughlin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster)
David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)