FREEbets.org.uk<\/a> to see how these additions will affect affect the odds around their upcoming games. <\/p>\nIn addition to the squad being announced, it was also confirmed that Jamie Heaslip would continue in the captaincy for the RBS 6 Nations Championship after leading the side during the Guinness Series in November.<\/p>\n
Ireland Coach Declan Kidney said, “Our priority is the Wales game, but there is an opportunity in the Wolfhounds match for some of the players as we head into the Six Nations. While the majority of our focus is on the preparations for the Wales game, the coaching staff felt it made sense to have time with the wider group of players and also to have two fully fit teams on the field ready to train after what is usually an attritional end to the group stages in Europe.<\/p>\n
There are quite a few players who have been out injured and could be lacking game time, so this will be the ideal chance for them and the newer members in the squad to challenge for places in the senior team. After the Wolfhounds game we will able to name a smaller squad which will train together and prepare for the Wales game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Commenting on the captaincy, Kidney said \u201cJamie had done a really good job for the squad and management during November and I felt that now was the correct time to do this. Brian has had very little rugby in the last number of months and I think he deserves the space and time to concentrate on getting himself back playing fully fit. We need Brian the player just as much as we need Brian the captain and typical of the man and the selfless way he has contributed to Irish Rugby and the Ireland team, he has said that the captain and the team would have his full support.\u201d <\/p>\n
Brian O\u2019Driscoll said, \u201cThe captaincy has been a big part of my career and life over the last number of years, and while I was naturally very disappointed not to be leading the team in the Six nations, when I talked it through with Declan I accepted the reasons behind the decision. I\u2019ve always known that the Rugby World Cup in 2015 was most likely a bridge too far for me, so at some point a player, who will most likely be there for the tournament, needs to build that captaincy experience. Jamie will do a fantastic job and along with the other senior players in the leadership group, I will be giving him all of the support that he needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jamie Heaslip said, \u201cI was incredibly honoured when Declan asked me back in November to lead the team in Brian\u2019s absence. To lead your country is the ultimate in any sport. To get the opportunity again, considering what an inspirational leader Brian is and the other players who could have been chosen to captain the team, is even more humbling. I know Brian as a teammate and as a friend and I will be relying on his and the other players support as we head into the Championship. <\/p>\n
Ireland Training Squad(39):<\/p>\n
Ireland Squad (club\/province\/international caps):
\nMichael Bent (Unattached\/Leinster\/2)
\nRory Best (Banbridge\/Ulster\/62)
\nIsaac Boss (Terenure College\/Leinster\/15)
\nDarren Cave (Belfast Harlequins\/Ulster\/3)
\nTom Court (Malone\/Ulster\/29)
\nSean Cronin (St. Mary’s College\/Leinster\/23)
\nGordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne\/Leinster\/71)
\nKeith Earls (Thomond\/Munster\/34)
\nLuke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College\/Leinster\/23)
\nDeclan Fitzpatrick (Dungannon \/Ulster\/2)
\nCraig Gilroy (Dungannon\/Ulster\/1)
\nCian Healy (Clontarf\/Leinster\/35)
\nJamie Heaslip (Dublin University\/Leinster\/52) Captain
\nIain Henderson (Queens University\/Ulster\/2)
\nChris Henry (Malone\/Ulster\/4)
\nRobbie Henshaw (Buccaneers\/Connacht)*
\nPaddy Jackson (Dungannon\/Ulster)*
\nRob Kearney (UCD\/Leinster\/41)
\nDavid Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians\/Munster\/2)
\nIan Madigan (Blackrock College\/Leinster)*
\nPaul Marshall (Ballymena\/Ulster\/)*
\nConor Murray (Garryowen\/Munster\/14)
\nMike McCarthy (Buccaneers\/Connacht\/6)
\nFergus McFadden (Old Belvedere\/Leinster\/16)
\nDave McSharry (Galwegians\/Connacht\/)*
\nSean O\u2019Brien (Clontarf\/Leinster\/22)
\nDonncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution\/Munster\/91)
\nBrian O’Driscoll (UCD\/Leinster\/120)
\nRonan O’Gara (Cork Constitution\/Munster\/126)
\nPeter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution\/Munster\/9)
\nEoin Reddan (Lansdowne\/Leinster\/47)
\nMike Ross (Clontarf\/Leinster\/24)
\nDonnacha Ryan (Shannon\/Munster\/23)
\nJonathan Sexton (St.Mary\u2019s College\/Leinster\/34)
\nLewis Stevenson (Belfast Harlequins\/Ulster\/)*
\nRichardt Strauss (Old Wesley\/Leinster\/2)
\nDevin Toner (Lansdowne\/Leinster\/3)
\nAndrew Trimble (Ballymena\/Ulster\/49)
\nSimon Zebo (Cork Constitution\/Munster\/3)<\/p>\n
N.B. *denotes uncapped player<\/p>\n
Not available due to injury:
\nTommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins\/Ulster\/51)
\nStephen Ferris (Dungannon\/Ulster\/35)
\nLuke Marshall (Ballymena\/Ulster)
\nJohn Muldoon (Galwegians\/Connacht\/3)
\nPaul O\u2019Connell (Young Munster\/Munster\/85)
\nDan Tuohy (Ballymena\/Ulster\/5)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An enlarged 39 man squad containing six uncapped players was announced today by the Ireland management as part of the preparations for the upcoming O2 Ireland Wolfhounds game and the opening game of the RBS 6 Nations Championship against Wales. The senior Ireland national coaching team will be taking charge of that Wolfhounds side which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[7894,4050,7218,3959,7602,5245,17300],"class_list":["post-39819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-irish-rugby","tag-7894","tag-ireland","tag-nations","tag-rugby","tag-six","tag-squad","tag-wolfhounds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39819"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39819\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52026,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39819\/revisions\/52026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}