Ireland Squad for November tests named and United Rugby Championship Round 6 Previews.

Andy Farrell has just named his 35 man squad for the November tests against New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji, and Australia plus five development players who will join them on a training camp in Portugal next week.

Compared to the 37 players who toured South Africa, Henderson, Gibson Park, Hansen, and Keenan come back in, while Sheehan, Jager, and Jimmy O’Brien are excluded due to injury along with Blade, Doak, and Larmour. Most of the changes are due to players who were injured or not available for the tour coming back in for players lower down the pecking order.

Some of the players are still rehabbing injuries and may not become available for selection until later in the series – chiefly, Kelleher, Herring, and O’Mahony – so there is still a chance that some of the training squad additions might be called in as cover. Gus McCarthy’s inclusion at the expense of more experienced hookers like Diarmuid Barron and Niall Scannell won’t have pleased Munster fans, but perhaps Munster’s line-out woes have told against them.

Munster fans will also not have been impressed by the exclusion of Ahern, or Loughman’s exclusion with Ulster tighthead Tom O’Toole providing loosehead cover together with Jack Boyle in the development squad. Ulster fans will be disappointed McCann didn’t make it, even as a development player, where the emerging Ireland captain, Kendellen gets the nod.

Conan’s hamstring injury put paid to his chances, but Connacht will be disappointed Forde didn’t get a look in. I am surprised at Thomas Clarkson’s inclusion as he doesn’t strike me as a test class scrummaging tight head even if other aspects of his game are excellent. Connacht’s Aungier and Ulster’s Scott Wilson will be disappointed. Farrell wants to have another look at Shayne Bolton, the Connacht winger, who missed out on the Emerging Ireland tour due to injury. He provides a physicality few Ireland wingers can match.

There are thus only two uncapped players in the main squad – Sam Prendergast and Izuchukwu – who can expect to get a run, at least against Fiji. Farrell does evolution rather than revolution and is very loyal to those who have done a good job for him, although those included in training squads often make the main squad soon afterwards.

Despite O’Mahony’s presence in the squad, Caelan Doris has been selected as Captain, ahead of more experienced campaigners like Beirne, Henderson, Ringrose, and Ryan. This also puts him in the frame for the Lion’s captaincy, although there may be some reluctance to have both the Head Coach and Captain from the same Union.

Jonny Sexton has been asked to join the Ireland set up in a part time mentoring role for younger tyros like Osborne, Frawley, and Prendergast. Ross Byrne, meanwhile, is rumoured to be considering an offer to join Montpellier. Exclusion form the Ireland squad will make that decision easier for him, although it is a pity he won’t be joining another province. We are not overflowing with experienced 10s although his lack of a running game may be counting against him given the running game style of the Irish provinces.

Looking at the squad as a whole it seems clear we have reasonable strength in depth everywhere except perhaps at prop and hooker – with Sheehan and Stewart still injured and Kelleher and Herring in a race to be match fit in time. Some very good players have been omitted and I only gave myself space to include one hard luck story per position. I’m sure readers here can add many more. The 35 man squad have exactly 1,400 caps between them, or 40 caps per player on average, so we don’t lack for experience.

Winning four tests in four weeks against top tier teams is a big ask but I would be reasonably confident that Farrell has picked a squad good enough to do the job. I’m slightly surprised O’Mahony is still in there but the vast majority of the squad are young enough to take us through to the 2027 World Cup. Maintaining our World no. 1 ranking is important for ensuring a good seeding and keeping the money flowing into the coffers of the IRFU.

I’m sure the net will be cast wider for our summer tour to Georgia, Romania and possibly Portugal while many of this squad will be away with the Lions. But for the moment you have to be pretty extraordinary to break into a squad with so many established players who have helped Ireland get to that no. 1 position. Really only Jack Crowley and Joe McCarthy have managed it since the last World Cup while opportunity knocks for a few others like Ryan Baird, Ciarán Frawley, Sam Prendergast, and Cormac Izuchukwu.

Let’s hope a few new stars emerge this autumn!

URC Round 6 Preview

Ulster travel to Cardiff off the back of good wins against Glasgow, Connacht, and Ospreys while Cardiff have two bonus point wins against Zebre and Scarlets to their credit. It is the sort of match Ulster must win if they are to have ambitions of being involved at the business end of the season as Cardiff have already lost to Glasgow and Scarlets at home and Edinburgh away. With Stockdale back on form and Henderson, McIroy and Reffell available for selection, I would back Ulster to come away with a win.

Connacht have a must win game against the Dragons as well and have already notched up good wins against the Sharks at home, and Scarlets away. They had close losses to Munster and Ulster and a tough match against Leinster at home. There is no disgrace in that, but they need to start racking up the points to stay in contention. Their squad has a nicely balanced look to it and their strength in depth is improving all the time. As with the other provinces, the lack of quality props is an issue, but the Dragons shouldn’t be strong enough to exploit this.

Munster have another tough match against a full loaded Sharks team in Durban containing a near all Springbok pack and some Springboks in the backs as well. A loss wouldn’t be a disgrace, but they badly need to improve on their error strewn performance against the Stormers – a match they could have won had they been at the top of their game.

Leinster entertain the Lions at Lansdowne Road in a top of the table first versus second clash. This is one Leinster need to win if they want to put some distance between them and the chasing bunch for when their internationals are away for the November and 6 Nations test series. Due to player management protocols and the demands of test rugby, Leinster have traditionally sent a “rotated” squad to South Africa for their away matches, and this cost them top seeding in the playoffs last season.

All in all, it promises to be an intriguing weekend of rugby, with a lot of players wishing to send a message Farrell’s way, even if their province winning is the top priority.

Frank Schnittger is the author of Sovereignty 2040, a future history of how Irish re-unification might work out. He has worked in business in Dublin and London and, on a voluntary basis, for charities in community development, education, restorative justice and addiction services.