The five players with most to gain from Ireland’s summer tour

We can't wait!

There are injuries aplenty, and those on the periphery of the squad and match-day 23 will be looking to stake a claim.

Some have genuine ambitions to make the starting jersey their own, others will want to show that they can make a difference at this level when called upon, and there are those who are looking to prove the doubters wrong.

It's all to play for on an intriguing tour.

Tom O'Toole

Although regularly a tighthead prop, the Ulsterman is another shining example of Andy Farrell's selection prowess.

He has persisted with playing 27-year-old in the No 1 jersey for country, and, after a difficult introduction to the unfamiliar position, his decision began to pay serious dividends during the Six Nations.

O'Toole was a game-saver at scrum time when he came off the bench against Italy, and was in the running for man of the match against Wales, before putting in a 20-tackle shift against Scotland in his 64 minutes on the pitch at the Aviva.

With Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy and Jack Boyle all sidelined, if the Australian-born front rower can continue his form at set-piece and in defence, the the aforementioned men will have to prise the jersey off him.

Darragh Murray/Cormac Izuchukwu

We've lumped these two in together, as they may well end up competing for a spot on the plane to the 2027 World Cup.

While they do play slightly different positions and execute different roles in the team - Izuchukwu is the athletic lock-blindside hybrid, and second-row Murray is your old-school, set-piece expert - it looked like a toss up between the two for the bench spot in Ireland's last game against Scotland.

Murray won out and had an all-action try-scoring cameo; continuing his reputation for consistency in green, albeit in what is the small sample size of three games and an Emerging Ireland tour.

Ulster's Izuchukwu has similar experience for Ireland, but has failed to reproduce his provincial form in green.

We have yet to see him break open games in the loose for Ireland, but if he can come out of his shell and put his stamp on international matches, he will be hard to leave out of a starting 23.

Nathan Doak

The scrum-half has just had his best year for Ulster since his first full season back in 2021/22.

If the man ahead of you is just too good, great form is often not quite enough to make the uber-competitive match-day 23.

Thankfully for Doak, his rival for the sub No 9 jersey, Craig Casey, had a relatively disappointing Six Nations.

This is an enormous opportunity for the goal-kicking scrummie to stake a claim as the understudy to Jamison Gibson-Park.

Sam Prendergast

With Jack Crowley out of the picture through injury, the noise from media and fans will be a lot calmer, and without the abusive calls for the Munster ten to start at the slightest of mistakes from Prendergast.

He will gain confidence from his starring role in Ireland's win over Australia last year, but must show more in the areas of goal-kicking and defence.

Having changed to the telescopic cone, if he can consistently knock over his penalties and conversions on this tour, it will go a long way in the battle for the 10 jersey.