Ireland World Cup squad: Andy Farrell makes his 33-man selection

Andy Farrell has moved his squad announcement up 24 hours.

The Ireland squad for the 2023 World Cup was officially announced from The Shelbourne Hotel, in Dublin, on Sunday at 4:30pm. A squad of 33 players will then have a couple of down days before reassembling for final preparations before flying out to France, in early September.

Ireland Squad – Rugby World Cup 2023

Forwards (18): Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University)(13) Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers)(32) Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne)(41) Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere)(39) Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College)(31) Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf)(67) Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy)(74) Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch)(37) Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne)(21) David Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians)(52) Jeremy Loughman (Munster/Garryowen)(3) Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Dublin University)(3) Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution)(96) Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch)(11) Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD)(54) James Ryan (Leinster/UCD)(55) Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne)(18) Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD)(52) Backs (15): Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians)(47) Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD)(21) Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon)(12) Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution)(6) Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster)(100) Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)(26) Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians)(16) Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers)(64) Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD)(31) James Lowe (Leinster)(21) Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor)(13) Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen)(106) Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster/Naas)(6) Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD)(51) Jonathan Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College)(captain)(113)

Our live feed [BELOW] will be keep track of all the big Ireland squad announcement news, rumours, reactions and that all important and official news from the man himself, Andy Farrell. If any of the key points catch your eye, give it a click and it will take you right there.

Big calls set for final Ireland squad

Andy Farrell will have been mulling this Ireland squad for the World Cup as long back as March, almost the moment the Six Nations ended in Grand Slam style. Even before that, Farrell and his coaching staff had used the New Zealand tour and the Emerging Ireland games to get together a squad of around 40 players that they could get used to the system, and main players, with the World Cup in mind. Farrell's first-choice XV could be picked by most of us right now, at a push, and we would confidently get 13 or 14 of the calls right. He also has a stack of players he prefers to use on the replacements bench, although players like Jack Crowley and Cian Prendergast have shown he is not too set in his ways. Ireland are one of the last nations to officially name their 33-man squad. The allocation is up from 31 players, which had been the cut-off for the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. Previously, from 1999 to 2011 the squads had been 30 players. From 1987 to 1995, the squads were made up of just 27 players.

BRIAN O'DRISCOLL ON FIRST CALL-UPS AND CAREER HIGHS:

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• Ireland vs. England: All the talking points, biggest moments and player ratings
• Roy Keane cracks jokes with Johnny Sexton and Andy Farrell at Ireland training camp
• Paul O'Connell on his most treasured jersey swap and toughest opponent

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