ANDY FARRELL has named his Ireland squad for the upcoming Six Nations this spring and has decided to leave out Munster out half Joey Carbery.
A 37-man squad has been selected to wrestle back the crown from defending champions France.
There is a surprise inclusion for Leinster’s Jamie Osborne, who has shown excellent form in the United Rugby Championship and Champions Cup in recent weeks.
The likes of Johnny Sexton and Tadgh Furlong have been included despite recent doubts over their fitness'.
Munster's Gavin Coombes and young out half Jack Crowley have also been included by Farrell this year.
Commenting on his team selection on the IRFU website Farrell said, "“The Six Nations is a huge competition for us and another opportunity for us to grow as a group. 2022 was a busy year as we got to work with a larger group of players as we continued to build our squad depth and competition for places.
While there are a few players carrying knocks and others that have missed out on selection for the start of the tournament, they will have the opportunity to push their case playing for their provinces in the URC over the coming weeks as no doubt we will need to call upon the wider group as the tournament progresses.”
Andy Farrell's Ireland! 🟢#TeamOfUs | #GuinnessSixNations
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) January 19, 2023
Ireland begin their campaign away to Wales on Saturday 4th February. They will then welcome Grand Slam champions France to Dublin a week later.
There is a week gap before Ireland then travels to Rome to face Italy on the 25th of February.
Andy Farrells's men will then travel to Murrayfield for a 12th of March game against Scotland.
They will then close out the campaign with a game against England, the day after St. Patrick's day.
Ireland Squad, 2023 Guinness Six Nations:
Backs (17):
Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians), Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD), Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon), Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution), Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) , Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster), Mack Hansen (Connacht), Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD), Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Marys College) , James Lowe (Leinster), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor), Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen, Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster/Naas), Jamie Osborne (Leinster/Naas), Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD), Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College)(captain), Jacob Stockdale (Ulster/Lurgan)
Forwards (20):
Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University), Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers), Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne), Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere), Gavin Coombes (Munster/Young Munster), Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf), Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf), Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy), Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch), Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne), Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians), Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Dublin University), Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution), Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch), Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD), Cian Prendergast (Connacht/Corinthians), James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) , Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) , Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD)
2023 Guinness Six Nations Fixtures:
Wales v IRELAND
Saturday 4th February 2023, KO 14:15 (IST)
VIRGIN / BBC / RTE Radio / BBC Radio
IRELAND v France
Saturday 11th February 2023, KO 14:15 (IST)
RTE TV / ITV / RTE Radio / BBC Radio
Italy v IRELAND
Saturday 25th February 2023, KO 14:15 (IST)
RTE TV / ITV / RTE Radio / BBC Radio
Scotland v IRELAND
Sunday 12th March 2023, KO 15:00 (IST)
RTE TV / BBC / RTE Radio / BBC Radio
IRELAND v England
Saturday 18th March 2023, KO 17:00 (IST)
VIRGIN / ITV / RTE Radio / BBC Radio