Andy Farrell is sticking to his guns, even if some of them are misfiring.
A 36-man Ireland squad for the Six Nations clash with Italy, in Rome, has been confirmed by the IRFU this afternoon.
There are no players dropping out of the squad after the opening two defeats to France and Wales. There are also no reported injury concerns, meaning the likes of Conor Murray, Johnny Sexton and James Ryan could all feature against the Italians.
Irish supporters hoping for full call-ups for the likes of Harry Byrne, Jack Carty, John Cooney and Gavin Coombes will be disappointed by the squad announcement.
Alex Wootton’s two tries for Connacht, against Cardiff Blues, and the accomplished outings of Cooney and Ian Madigan against Glasgow have not swayed Farrell’s thinking as he tries to get Ireland back on track.
BACKS
- Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 30 caps
- Billy Burns (Ulster) 5 caps
- Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD) 12 caps
- Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) uncapped
- Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 24 caps
- Shane Daly (Munster/Cork Con) 1 cap
- Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) 90 caps
- Chris Farrell (Munster/Young Munster) 14 caps
- Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 7 caps
- Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 49 caps
- Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 8 caps
- Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 26 caps
- James Lowe (Leinster) 4 caps
- Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor) 4 caps
- Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 88 caps
- Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 32 caps
- Jonathan Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 96 caps
FORWARDS
- Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) uncapped
- Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 19 caps
- Ed Byrne (Leinster/UCD) 4 caps
- Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 17 caps
- Will Connors (Leinster/UCD) 7 caps
- Ultan Dillane (Connacht/Corinthians) 18 caps
- Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 46 caps
- Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 106 caps
- Dave Heffernan (Connacht/Buccaneers) 5 caps
- Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 60 caps
- Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 18 caps
- Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 8 caps
- Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 40 caps
- Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) uncapped
- Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 34 caps
- Rhys Ruddock (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 27 caps
- James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 33 caps
- CJ Stander (Munster/Shannon) 48 caps
- Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 30 caps
Ireland will take on Italy at Stadio Olimpico from 2:15pm next Saturday.
