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Ireland Squad Named For Opening Rounds Of NatWest 6 Nations

The Ireland management team have named a squad of 36 players for the opening two rounds of the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations Championship.

Ireland take on France in Paris in their opening fixture before hosting Italy at the Aviva Stadium as Conor O’Shea makes his first visit to Dublin as Italian head coach.

The uncapped Jordan Larmour from Leinster has been named in Ireland’s 36-man squad, which also includes Chris Farrell and Bundee Aki, who won their first caps during the successful GUINNESS Series in November.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt commented: “It’s been great to witness some quality performances from provincial teams over the last seven weeks of European and derby matches, with a number of players performing well. There were some very tight decisions but it’s great to see some competitive depth in a number of positions.”

There are a number of players unavailable through injury – Finlay Bealham, Jamie Heaslip, Sean O’Brien, Rhys Ruddock, Tommy O’Donnell, Luke Marshall, Garry Ringrose, Jared Payne and Craig Gilroy – as well as Niall Scannell who is due to return to action in the coming weeks.

IRELAND Squad (2018 NatWest 6 Nations Championship – Rounds 1 & 2):

Player/Club/Province/Caps:

Backs (16) –

Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 2
Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Leinster) 6
Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 6
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 62
Chris Farrell (Young Munster/Munster) 2
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 31
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 78
Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster) 7
Jordan Larmour (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) *
Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) 18
Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 32
Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) 6
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 59
Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 68
Rory Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) 3
Jacob Stockdale (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 4

Forwards (20) –

Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) 106 (capt)
Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 5
Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 56
Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht) 11
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 19
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 73
Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 34
Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 3
Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 22
Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster) 4
Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster) 42
Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) 18
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 42
Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 3
Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht) 3
James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 4
John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 11
CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 18
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 53
Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 9