Ireland’s squad update makes selection picture for Scotland much clearer

Patrick McCarry

“We’ve got a good crop of players coming back when it matters.”

Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad are three from three in the 2023 Six Nations and another full haul of points, against Scotland, should put them on the brink of a first title since 2018.

To help them get the job done at Murrayfield, Andy Farrell will have three big players back at his disposal, as well as the fit again Johnny Sexton and Garry Ringrose (a late withdrawal from the win over Italy). Tempering the good news, Finlay Bealham’s championship is over after he injured his knee in Rome.

Ireland will once again be tested by Richie Murphy’s Under-20 squad in Wednesday and Thursday training drills, one of which will be an open session at the Aviva Stadium. An IRFU release on Ireland’s 27-man squad retained for training, this week, reads:

‘Finlay Bealham, who twisted his knee against Italy on Saturday, has been ruled out of the remainder of the Championship. Bealham had started all three games in the campaign to date.

‘Ireland captain Johnny Sexton is named in the group for the mini-camp, as is Garry Ringrose who was a late withdrawal from the Italy game with a tight calf and Robbie Henshaw who is returning from injury.

‘Also included for this week’s camp are Jamison Gibson Park (hamstring) and Tadhg Furlong (calf), neither of whom have featured to date in the 2023 Guinness Six Nations Championship. All four Provinces are in URC action this weekend with a number of players released from the wider group to access game time.’

Bundee Aki, Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier and Dan Sheehan. (Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile)

IRELAND SQUAD – Mini training camp

Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 44 caps
Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) 9 caps
Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD) 17 caps
Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 10 caps
Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 36 caps
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 63 caps
Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 26 caps
Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 23 caps
Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians) 12 caps
Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 121 caps
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 61 caps
Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 71 caps
Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 28 caps
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 20 caps
Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 51 caps
James Lowe (Leinster) 18 caps
Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor) 12 caps
Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 103 caps
Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster/Naas) 4 caps
Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 92 caps
Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 7 caps
Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 51 caps
Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 49 caps
James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 51 caps
Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 111 caps (c)
Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 15 caps
Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 48 caps

The return of Tadhg Furlong, Robbie Henshaw and Jamison Gibson-Park, along with Sexton and Ringrose, makes Ireland’s selection picture clearer for the Scotland game.

A limited number of tickets for Ireland’s Open Training Session at Aviva Stadium will be available to download for free from Ticketmaster.ie from 5pm today.

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