No Lowe as Ireland reveal squad for Nations Championship
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has named the Ireland squad for the upcoming Nations Championship Southern Hemisphere Series with James Lowe the big omission on the line-up.
It seems like the 33-year-old New Zealand-born winger has played his last match for Ireland.
Lowe is out of contract at Leinster at the end of the season, and will not feature in the matches against Australia, Japan and New Zealand in the Southern Hemisphere next month.
Farrell selected a 36-player squad to travel to Sydney on Monday.
Caelan Doris will captain the Ireland squad, which includes the uncapped Connacht trio of Billy Bohan, Sam Illo and Sean Jansen.
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Bohan was part of the Ireland squad for the Guinness Men’s Six Nations earlier this season, while Illo and Jansen – who have featured for Emerging Ireland previously – have earned first senior squad call ups after impressive seasons for their Provinces.
Ryan Baird, Shayne Bolton, Jack Boyle, Jack Crowley, Edwin Edogbo, Tom Farrell, Mack Hansen, Paddy McCarthy, Calvin Nash and Andrew Porter are all unavailable due to injury.
Ireland open their Nations Championship campaign against Australia at a sold-out Allianz Stadium in Sydney on Saturday, July 4, before going head-to-head with Japan at McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle on Saturday, July 11.
Farrell’s side then travel to Auckland for a Round 3 clash with New Zealand on Saturday, July 18.
“I’m pleased to announce the Ireland squad for the opening three rounds of the Nations Championship. This competition will bring the best of the northern hemisphere up against their southern counterparts and the road for that Sunday evening slot for Finals Weekend in London starts now,” Farrell said.
“We have three tough Tests against Australia, Japan and New Zealand and it’s important that we hit the ground running in this new tournament.
“The experience of playing Down Under will be priceless for us and even though we’ll be playing in front of largely partisan home crowds, we are also excited about playing in front of a huge Irish support. Their dedication to the team never ceases to amaze us and with a huge diaspora Down Under I’m sure we can count on a large Irish following in Sydney, Newcastle and then on to Auckland.
“For us, we are aiming to build on our positive performances during the recent Six Nations.
“The non-Leinster contingent across the three Provinces have completed a three-day training block this week in the IRFU High Performance Centre ahead of our departure on Monday and it has given us the chance to look at the squad going forward. Congratulations to Billy, Sam and Sean on their selections and each of them has earned the right to be selected after their performances this season.
“Their selection, allied to an experienced majority who we hope to see perform strongly for Leinster in the URC Final on Friday night, will add great energy to the squad which we’ve been building over the last number of campaigns.”
*The Irish squad below…
Ireland Squad:
Forwards:
Tadhg Beirne, Billy Bohan, Thomas Clarkson, Jack Conan, Caelan Doris (captain), Tadhg Furlong, Sam Illo, Cormac Izuchukwu, Sean Jansen, Rónan Kelleher, Jeremy Loughman, Joe McCarthy, Darragh Murray, Tom O’Toole, Cian Prendergast, James Ryan, Dan Sheehan, Tom Stewart, Nick Timoney, Josh van der Flier.
Backs:
Bundee Aki, Rob Baloucoune, Harry Byrne, Craig Casey, Nathan Doak, Ciaran Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park, Robbie Henshaw, Hugo Keenan, Stuart McCloskey, Jimmy O’Brien, Tommy O’Brien, Jamie Osborne, Sam Prendergast, Garry Ringrose, Jacob Stockdale.
