Andy Farrell has named his first Ireland squad ahead of the 2020 6 Nations Championship with eight Munster players included – four forwards and four backs.
Jack O'Donoghue, Peter O'Mahony, Dave Kilcoyne, CJ Stander, Chris Farrell, Keith Earls, Conor Murray and Andrew Conway have all been included with Johnny Sexton named as captain.
There are five uncapped players named in Ulster’s Billy Burns and Tom O’Toole and Leinster trio Max Deegan, Caelan Doris and Ronan Kelleher.
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell said: “At the get-together in December we challenged the players to put their hands up for the selection and the coaches are really pleased with the performances in recent weeks.
“As we progress through the Championship we will look to select sides that we believe are best suited to the task at the weekend. We will keep a close eye on the provincial performances in the PRO14 not just for the players in the squad that will transition back for game minutes but also for those players that were part of the wider selection discussions over the past few weeks.
“We have appointed Johnny as captain for the 6 Nations Championships, you can see what it means to him and the enthusiasm he will bring to the role. He has been developing as a leader for a number of years with Ireland, Leinster and the Lions and he will be a positive voice for the group."
The coaching group have also named four development players Ryan Baird, Robert Balacoune, Harry Byrne and Will Connors who will train with the squad at the warm weather camp in Portugal and in the lead-up to the opening game against Scotland.
Farrell said: “The provinces are doing a great job in developing young talent and we feel there is an opportunity in the national set-up to support that work and get a better insight into some young players that have put in strong performances for their provinces. Ryan, Will, Harry and Robert will be the first ones to join the squad in this development role.”
Ireland open their 2020 Guinness Six Nations campaign against Scotland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday 1st February before welcoming Wales to the Aviva a week later on Saturday 8th February. Ireland’s final home game of the 2020 Championships is against Italy on Saturday 7th March. All three home fixtures are sold out.
Announcements
Eight Munster Players In Ireland 6 Nations Squad
15th January 2020
