Ireland Squad Announced For Six Nations Championship Series
19 January 2011, 12:04 pm
By Editor
The 33-man Ireland squad announced today for the 2011 Six Nations Championship which shows the return of several players who were absent from the Autumn Internationals.
Commenting on the upcoming Six Nations, that will see Ireland play its first six nations international game in the Lansdowne Road Stadium, Ireland Coach Declan Kidney said, "It will be great to be back playing in the home of Irish Rugby on Lansdowne Road in the Lansdowne Road Stadium and the atmosphere from what I have seen so far rivals the old stadium. There will be a lot of talk about the new stadium and also about the Rugby World Cup, but the responsibility for the squad and management will be firmly to concentrate on the Italy game and then take each week as it comes in February. We will soak up all the excitement that goes with all that, but the focus for everybody come February will be performing against the Italians in Rome."
There are several players who remain out of consideration due to ongoing rehabilitation with Rob Kearney and Jerry Flannery continuing their recovery from long term injuries.
Kidney added: " We felt it was important to have 33 fit players to choose from in terms of setting the foundations for the championship and it was better for those who picked up knocks to be assessed back in the provinces and when they have the all clear, to come back into the squad. Jerry (Flannery) and Geordie (Murphy) are in that position."
"We need everybody in a position to be able to contribute in training and while we may well leave a window for those coming back, all the players in the squad are deserving of their chance. There are a lot of players who are unlucky not to make this squad, but the door will remain open to them also during February and March to join up with the panel."
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Paul O Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster)
Donncha O' Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Sean O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
Mick O'Driscoll (Constitution/Munster)
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
Damien Varley (Garryowen/Munster)
David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
Backs (16):
Tomas O Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht)
Keith Earls (Thomond/Munster)
Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock/Leinster)
Johne Murphy (Young Munster/Munster)
Ronan O' Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster)
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Jonathan Sexton (St.Mary's College/Leinster)
Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
*Denotes uncapped player.
So its confirmed, this squad was picked in August last year
Munster have a higher representation than Leinster, and Hayes picked in favour of Ross.
The original list isn't the one currently on the IRFU website - Ross & Ruddock are now in the forwards and TOL and J Murphy are no longer in the backs.
Ireland Squad, RBS 6 Nations Championship 2011
Backs
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
Gordon D'Arcy (Landowne - Leinster)
Gavin Duffy (Galwegians - Connacht)
Keith Earls (Thomond - Munster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock - Leinster)
Shane Horgan (Boyne - Leinster)
Ronan O' Gara (Cork Constitution - Munster)
Brian O'Driscoll (UCD - Leinster)
Eoin Reddan (Landowne - Leinster)
Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College - Leinster)
Peter Stringer (Shannon - Munster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena - Ulster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena - Ulster)
Forwards
Rory Best (Banbridge - Ulster)
Tom Court (Malone - Ulster)
Sean Cronin (Buccaneers - Connacht)
Leo Cullen (Blackrock - Leinster)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon - Ulster)
Jerry Flannery (Shannon - Munster)
John Hayes (Bruff - Munster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf - Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Naas - Leinster)
Shane Jennings (St. Mary's College - Leinster)
Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution - Munster)
Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers - Connacht)
Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution - Munster)
Paul O'Connell (Young Munster - Munster)
Sean O'Brien (Clontarf - Leinster)
Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution - Munster)
Michael Ross (Clontarf - Leinster)
Rhys Ruddock (St. Mary's College - Leinster)
David Wallace (Garryowen - Munster)
Why is Ruddock in the forwards when Dominic Ryan is starting ahead of him for Leinster?
Good to see Faloon and Humph in the A squad. Why Shane Horgan is in the squad ahead of Fionn Carr and McFadden I do not know and Carr isn't even in the A squad. Tuohy deserves his place in the senior squad but Mike McCarthy is surely a surprise inclusion? I would Expect Fitzgerald or Earls could be used at full back ahead of Duffy.
Fantastic, hopefully the players know who is in what squad even if we dont!! Would be a tad embarassing to turn up & be told by DK that you shouldn't be there!!
Anyway, good to see NOC still in the mix after some outstanding performances, (eg bench for ravens )
You can't argue with Horgans form.
Dissappointed Tuohy not in seniors and D'Arcy not in As.
Don't know why Ruddock is ahead of Ryan for Ireland but not Leinster. Are some players earmarked as internationls sometimes regardless of club match time? eg. Tom Prydie
Tom wrote:Don't know why Ruddock is ahead of Ryan for Ireland but not Leinster. Are some players earmarked as internationls sometimes regardless of club match time? eg. Tom Prydie
I would say some are earmarked on who your dad is and who he is coaching.
Ruddock and McCarthy will be in the senior squad to make up the numbers for scrum & line-out practice and hold tackle bags.
I'd say the Wolfhound players like Ryan and Touhy are ahead of them in the pecking order as they'll be getting actual game time to show what they can do.
Last edited by mikerob on Wed Jan 19, 2011 2:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.
NOC is a strange one, I don't remember seeing Keatley's name mentioned anywhere. Is he injured?
I thought Spence would have made the As. O'Malley has been impressive for Leinster in fairness, maybe it's Ulster bias on my part but I would have had Spence over him.
Agree with what others have said, Ryan should be ahead of Ruddock, but then maybe he is!
