Joe Schmidt has named his final 38 man squad for the opening two rounds of the Six Nations. Schmidt had originally named an extended squad ahead of the Wolfhounds disappointing loss to England Saxons on Friday but that has now been trimmed to the final selection.
The big news is that Fergus McFadden misses out through injury while Craig Gilroy is also excluded in line with concussion protocols.
Jack Conan, Michael Bent, Noel Reid, Rob Herring and Eoin McKeon are the others to miss out from the original panel.
According to Joe Schmidt:
Jack Conan and Michael Bent did well against the Saxons but will return to Leinster, as will Noel Reid who was restricted to a brief cameo as he was covering a number of positions.
Rob Herring returns to Ulster and will look forward to having an opportunity for further game time. Fergus McFadden has a rib cartilage injury, while Craig Gilroy will follow the return to play protocols after a concussion in the Wolfhounds game.
Schmidt has decided to keep Mike McCarthy in the squad despite the fact that he also has to complete the return to play protocols having suffered a concussion against the England Saxons. Elsewhere on the injury front, Dave Kearney, Luke Fitzgerald, Eoin Reddan and Jamie Heaslip should be ready to train fully by Tuesday at the latest, while Conor Murray is also expected to be fit for the clash with Italy on Saturday. Cian Healy is said to be making "very promising progress post his hamstring injury."
Connacht's Nathan White is the only uncapped member of the squad.
Ireland Six Nations squad:
Forwards:
Rory Best
James Cronin
Sean Cronin
Robbie Diack
Cian Healy
Jamie Heaslip
Iain Henderson
Mike McCarthy
Jack McGrath
Martin Moore
Jordi Murphy
Sean O'Brien
Paul O'Connell
Tommy O'Donnell
Peter O'Mahony
Mike Ross
Dominic Ryan
Richardt Strauss
Devin Toner
Nathan White
Backs:
Isaac Boss
Tommy Bowe
Darren Cave
Gordon D'Arcy
Keith Earls
Luke Fitzgerald
Robbie Henshaw
Felix Jones
David Kearney
Rob Kearney
Ian Keatley
Ian Madigan
Kieran Marmion
Conor Murray
Jared Payne
Eoin Reddan
Jonathan Sexton
Simon Zebo
