Are these the men who will bring home the Webb Ellis Cup? Or at least get to a semi-final?
Certainly Joe Schmidt will hope so as the Ireland coach named his 45-man training squad for this autumn’s Rugby World Cup in the UK.
As expected, there’s no place in the squad for Leinster back row Rhys Ruddock, who last week injured his arm for the second time this year.
Schmidt admitted that Ruddock would have made the panel had he been fully fit.
“The squad selection has been a long process with some very tight decisions. Some injured players who are getting close to full fitness have been included while others have missed out due to prolonged absence or lack of opportunity to demonstrate their full Test Match readiness.”
“Rhys Ruddock would have been selected but has been ruled him out after fracturing his arm against Uruguay last week.”
There are just two uncapped players in the 45 – Leinster duo Jack Conan and Tadhg Furlong – while Paul O’Connell will captain the side.
The first warm-up match for Schmidt’s squad will be against Wales in Cardiff on August 8.
Ireland’s 45-man training squad (*denotes uncapped player)
Forwards (23)
Rory Best
Michael Bent (Leinster)
Jack Conan (Leinster)*
Sean Cronin (Leinster)
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster)*
Cian Healy (Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Leinster)
Iain Henderson (Ulster)
Chris Henry (Ulster)
Rob Herring (Ulster)
David Kilcoyne (Munster)
Jack McGrath (Leinster)
Martin Moore (Leinster)
Jordi Murphy (Leinster)
Sean O’Brien (Leinster)
Paul O’Connell (Munster)
Tommy O’Donnell (Munster)
Peter O’Mahony (Munster)
Mike Ross (Leinster)
Donnacha Ryan (Munster)
Richardt Strauss (Leinster)
Devin Toner (Leinster)
Dan Tuohy (Ulster)
Backs (22)
Isaac Boss (Leinster)
Tommy Bowe (Ulster)
Darren Cave (Ulster)
Gordon D’Arcy (Leinster)
Keith Earls (Munster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Leinster)
Craig Gilroy (Ulster)
Robbie Henshaw (Connacht)
Paddy Jackson (Ulster)
Felix Jones (Munster)
David Kearney (Leinster)
Rob Kearney (Leinster)
Ian Madigan (Leinster)
Kieran Marmion (Connacht)
Fergus McFadden (Leinster)
Conor Murray (Munster)
Jared Payne (Ulster)
Eoin Reddan (Leinster)
Noel Reid (Leinster)
Jonathan Sexton (Racing Metro 92)
Andrew Trimble (Ulster)
Simon Zebo (Munster)
The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10
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