Some big calls from Andy Farrell
Andy Farrell has unveiled his squad for Ireland’s upcoming tour of South Africa.
Ireland will travel to South Africa for two test fixtures in Pretoria on July 6 and Durban on July 13.
One of the biggest exclusions is number eight Jack Conlon, who as reported by several outlets on Monday, isn’t part of the squad due to personal reasons.
There had been plenty of calls from outsiders from Farrell to name a squad with one eye cast on the future of Irish rugby and has sprung some surprises in his team.
Fighting talk from South Africans ahead of Tour
South Africa have already begun the mind games ahead of the tour after former Munster star Damian de Allende claimed that Andy Farrell struggles to motivate the Ireland team because he is English.
“It’s hard to say, I think Andy Farrell is English so I don’t know if he knows much about Ireland and the history and what has happened in the past and things like that.
“Because Rassie [Erasmus] is South African and he loves South Africa so much, he’s played for the Springboks, and it means so much to him, he knows how to make us tick as South Africans and he knows how to make South Africa tick.”
The full Ireland squad to travel to South Africa in July is:
Forwards:
Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster) 20
Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht) 40
Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster) 50
Caelan Doris (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 41
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 76
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 129
Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 39
Cormac Izuchukwu (Ulster/Ballynahinch)*
Oli Jager (Munster) 1
Ronan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster) 31
Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster) 10
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)(captain) 105
Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 13
Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 64
Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht) 3
James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 62
Dan Sheehan (Lansdowne/Leinster) 26
Nick Timoney (Banbridge/Ulster) 3
Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 62
Backs:
Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 56
Caolin Blade (Galwegians/Connacht) 2
Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster) 14
Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster) 14
Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster) 4
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 72
Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 32
James Lowe (Leinster) 31
Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster) 17
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 116
Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster) 6
Jimmy O’Brien (Naas/Leinster) 8
Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)*
Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)*
Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 58
Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 37
* denotes uncapped player
Related links:
- Opinion: Simon Zebo deserved a Carlo Ancelotti, he got Joe Schmidt
- Former Munster star claims Andy Farrell can’t motivate Ireland because he’s English
- Hugo Keenan reportedly set to return to Ireland Sevens squad ahead of Olympics
