RugbyWaffle

On Tuesday afternoon Joe Schmidt announced and extended 44 man squad ahead of the Wolfhounds game on Saturday week (25th) and the 6 Nations. While cynics may say he has selected nearly every fit and available senior player and the announcement tells us nothing it actually seems to be a shrewd move from the Kiwi. After this weekends Heineken Cup action the provinces will not be in action again until the weekend of the 7th of February so there is a window there to get these guys together and get a singular message out to them; this is how we want to play and everyone is on the radar. This will hopefully go a long way to Joe building some real depth in the Irish squad.

The breakdown of the squad is:

Loosehead:

Cian Healy, David Kilcoyne, Jack McGrath

Hooker:

Rory Best, Sean Cronin, Rob Herring, Damien Varley

Tighthead:

Mike Ross, Martin Moore, Stephen Archer, Rodney Ah You

Second Row:

Paul O’Connell, Mike McCarthy, Devin Toner, Dan Tuohy, Iain Henderson

Blindside:

Peter O’Mahony, Rhys Ruddock, Robbie Diack

Openside:

Chris Henry, Tommy O’Donnell

Number 8:

Jamie Heaslip, Robin Copeland, Jordi Murphy

Scrum Half:

Conor Murray, Eoin Reddan, Isaac Boss, Kieran Marmion

Out Half:

Jonothan Sexton, Paddy Jackson, Ian Madigan, Ian Keatley

Inside Centre:

Gordon D’Arcy, Luke Marshall

Outside Centre:

Brian O’Driscoll, Darren Cave

Wing:

Keith Earls, Luke Fitzgerald, Fergus McFadden, David Kearney, Andrew Trimble

Full Back:

Rob Kearney, Robbie Henshaw, Felix Jones

Players Coming Back from Injury:

Declan Fitzpatrick, Richardt Strauss, Donnacha Ryan, Roger Wilson, Tommy Bowe, Simon Zebo & Craig Gilroy

Players Out Due to Injury:

Mike Sherry, Stephen Ferris, Sean O’Brien & Stuart Olding

Of the players that were mentioned as returning from injury so not included 5 of those 7 are featuring this weekend, either in starting line-ups or on the bench. They are Declan Fitzpatrick, Richardt Strauss, Roger Wilson, Simon Zebo & Craig Gilroy. Any or all of these could work their way into the squad over the next 2 weeks which would provide even further depth. This highlights the strong position Irish rugby is beginning to find itself in, with genuine options in most positions. There’s plenty to look forward to in the coming 6 Nations and beyond.