Farrell Names Ireland Squad For Nations Championship Southern Hemisphere Series

Ireland Team Huddle
Head Coach Andy Farrell has named the Ireland Men’s Squad, sponsored by Vodafone, for the upcoming Nations Championship Southern Hemisphere Series.

Ireland will kick off the inaugural Nations Championship against Australia, Japan and New Zealand in July, with Farrell selecting a 36-player squad to travel to Sydney on Monday.

Caelan Doris will captain the Ireland squad, which includes the uncapped Connacht trio of Billy Bohan, Sam Illo and Sean Jansen.

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Sean Jansen

Bohan was part of the Ireland squad for the Guinness Men’s Six Nations earlier this season, while Illo and Jansen - who have featured for Emerging Ireland previously - have earned first senior squad call ups after impressive seasons for their Provinces.

Ryan Baird, Shayne Bolton, Jack Boyle, Jack Crowley, Edwin Edogbo, Tom Farrell, Mack Hansen, Paddy McCarthy, Calvin Nash and Andrew Porter are all unavailable due to injury.

Ireland open their Nations Championship campaign against Australia at a sold-out Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Saturday, 4 July (8.10pm local time/11.10am Irish time), before going head-to-head with Japan at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle on Saturday, 11 July (8.10pm local time/11.10am Irish time).

Farrell’s side then travel to Auckland for a Round 3 clash with New Zealand on Saturday, 18 July (7.10pm local time/8.10am Irish time), with all matches in the Nations Championship live on Virgin Media One and Virgin Media Play in the Republic of Ireland and ITV in the United Kingdom.

Ireland Head Coach Andy Farrell said: “I’m pleased to announce the Ireland squad for the opening three rounds of the Nations Championship. This competition will bring the best of the northern hemisphere up against their southern counterparts and the road for that Sunday evening slot for Finals Weekend in London starts now.

“We have three tough Tests against Australia, Japan and New Zealand and it’s important that we hit the ground running in this new tournament.

Congratulations to Billy, Sam and Sean on their selections and each of them has earned the right to be selected after their performances this season.
Andy Farrell
Ireland Men's Head Coach

“The experience of playing Down Under will be priceless for us and even though we’ll be playing in front of largely partisan home crowds, we are also excited about playing in front of a huge Irish support. Their dedication to the team never ceases to amaze us and with a huge diaspora Down Under I’m sure we can count on a large Irish following in Sydney, Newcastle and then on to Auckland.

“For us, we are aiming to build on our positive performances during the recent Guinness Men’s Six Nations.

“The non-Leinster contingent across the three Provinces have completed a three-day training block this week in the IRFU High Performance Centre ahead of our departure on Monday and it has given us the chance to look at the squad going forward. Congratulations to Billy, Sam and Sean on their selections and each of them has earned the right to be selected after their performances this season.

“Their selection, allied to an experienced majority who we hope to see perform strongly for Leinster in the BKT URC final on Friday night, will add great energy to the squad which we’ve been building over the last number of campaigns.”

Ireland Squad:

(Club/Province/Caps)

Forwards (20):

Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster)(70)
Billy Bohan (Corinthians/Connacht)*
Thomas Clarkson (Blackrock College/Leinster)(13)
Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster)(59)
Caelan Doris (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)(captain)(60)
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster)(86)
Sam Illo (Buccaneers/Connacht)* 
Cormac Izuchukwu (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(4)
Sean Jansen (Connacht)*
Rónan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster)(48)
Jeremy Loughman (Garryowen/Munster)(8)
Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster)(24)
Darragh Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht)(3)
Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(21)
Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht)(11)
James Ryan (UCD/Leinster)(80)
Dan Sheehan (Lansdowne/Leinster)(39)
Tom Stewart (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(5)
Nick Timoney (Queen’s University/Ulster)(11)
Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster)(79)

Backs (16):

Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht)(69)
Rob Baloucoune (Enniskillen/Ulster)(8)
Harry Byrne (Lansdowne/Leinster)(4)
Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster)(28)
Nathan Doak (Banbridge/Ulster)(1)
Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster)(12)
Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)(51)
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) (84)
Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster)(46)
Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster)(28)
Jimmy O’Brien (Naas/Leinster)(11)
Tommy O’Brien (Blackrock College/Leinster)(9)
Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)(15)
Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)(15)
Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster)(74)
Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster)(42).

* denotes uncapped

Ireland Fixtures:

  • Saturday, 4 July: Australia v Ireland, Allianz Stadium, Sydney, 8.10pm local time/11.10am Irish time
  • Saturday, 11 July: Japan v Ireland, McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle, 8.10pm local time/11.10am Irish time 
  • Saturday, 18 July: New Zealand v Ireland, Eden Park, Auckland, 7.10pm local time/8.10am Irish time.