Ireland drop two players ahead of Italy clash
SQUAD UPDATE: Ireland revealed a 43-man squad on Monday ahead of their first World Cup warm-up match against Italy in Dublin on Saturday.
The match against Italy will be the first of four hit-outs for Ireland ahead of their World Cup opener against Scotland.
The squad consists of 23 forwards and 20 backs. Ultan Dillane and Rory Scannell have returned to their provincial bases.
After their meeting with Italy, Ireland will face England at Twickenham on August 24.
Joe Schmidt’s side will then take on Wales in Cardiff on August 31 before finishing their preparations with another fixture against Warren Gatland’s side on September 7 in Dublin.
Ireland squad:
Forwards: Finlay Bealham, Rory Best, Tadhg Beirne, Jack Conan, Sean Cronin, Tadhg Furlong, Cian Healy, Iain Henderson, Rob Herring, Dave Kilcoyne, Jean Kleyn, Jack McGrath, Jordi Murphy, Tommy O’Donnell, Peter O’Mahony, Andrew Porter, Rhys Ruddock, James Ryan, John Ryan, Niall Scannell, CJ Stander, Devin Toner, Josh van der Flier.
Backs: Will Addison, Bundee Aki, Ross Byrne, Joey Carbery, Jack Carty, Andrew Conway, John Cooney, Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Mike Haley, Robbie Henshaw, Dave Kearney, Rob Kearney, Jordan Larmour, Kieran Marmion, Luke McGrath, Conor Murray, Garry Ringrose, Jonathan Sexton, Jacob Stockdale.
‘We can’t wait for the rugby to start’ – Here’s @john_ryan_88
on some tough training sessions and why he can’t wait for the rugby to kick off. #ShoulderToShoulder #IREvITA pic.twitter.com/1jbbW3DHNQ— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) August 2, 2019
