Rory Best has been named as the new Ireland captain as Joe Schmidt has named a 35 man squad for the opening two rounds of the Six Nations.
While that is undoubtedly the big news there is also something of a surprise in that Garry Ringrose has been left our of the squad.
There had been some errant rumours that CJ Stander was going to be conspicuous in his absence form the squad but thankfully that's not the case and the Munster back-row is duly in line to make his Ireland debut when the Six Nations campaign kicks off against Wales on February 7th.
Aside from the Munster man Connacht's Ultan Dillane, Leinster's Josh Van Der Flier and Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey have made it.
Here's the full 35 man squad (names below).
Ireland Squad for @rbs_6_nations 4 Uncapped: @Ultan_Dillane @CJStander @joshvdf & @Stuart_Mc12 #shouldertoshoulder pic.twitter.com/mFd1EWrTpW
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) January 20, 2016
Forwards (19)
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) Captain
Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
James Cronin (Dolphin/Munster)
Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht)*
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster) Vice Captain
Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Mike McCarthy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Jack McGrath (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
Martin Moore (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Sean O'Brien (UCD/Leinster)
Tommy O'Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Rhys Ruddock (St Mary's College/Leinster)
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
CJ Stander (Munster)*
Richardt Strauss (Old Wesley/Leinster)
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster)*
Nathan White (Connacht)
Backs (16)
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster)
David Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht)
Luke Marshall (Ballymena/Ulster)
Stuart McCloskey (McCloskey/Ulster)*
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
Jared Payne (Ulster)
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Jonathan Sexton (St Mary's College/Leinster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
Simon Zebo (Cork Con/Munster)
Mike Ross, Cian Healy and Chris Henry are conspicuous in their absence from that list but Joe Schmidt has confirmed that their absence is as a result of injury and that they will be available for selection after the first two games.
As always there were a number of tight decisions, especially with a number of players not being available to play in recent weeks.
Stalwarts such as Mike Ross, Cian Healy and Chris Henry are all likely to return to play over the coming weeks and they, along with some of the other players not included will potentially return to the squad post these first two matches.
There are a few new faces but at the same time we have resisted the temptation to include some of the very promising youngsters, allowing them a bit more time to develop as well as the opportunity of further game time with their provinces.
With plenty of new personnel involved the RBS 6 Nations is going to be incredibly challenging and the players selected will know they will need to be at their best to be competitive.
So there it is. A 35 man squad to pin our hopes on over the next few weeks and a new captain to lead us in the Six Nations.
