Rugby:The Ireland A squad to take on the England Saxons at Bath's Recreation Ground this Sunday shows several senior players recently returned from injury – namely Marcus Horan and Rory Best - suggesting they will be afforded more game time ahead of Ireland's Six Nations opener against Italy the following weekend.
Horan played in Munster's final Heineken Cup pool match against Northampton last weekend and is named in the frontrow alongside Best, who also recently returned to full time training with Ulster and lined out for Banbridge in the AIB League at the weekend.
“There are a few guys who have not had much game time over Christmas...so, the ‘A’ game is an opportunity for Marcus (Horan) and Rory (Best) because they haven’t been playing for the last two or three months,” said Irish team manager, Paul McNaughton.
Best's Ulster team-mates, Paddy Wallace and Andrew Trimble, will also feel they can still play their way into Declan Kidney's side ahead of the Six Nations. Trimble has returned to top form of late and covered virtually the length of the pitch in a career try during last weekend's Heineken Cup win away to Bath.
Wallace was a preferred central partnership option alongside Brian O'Driscoll during last season's Grand Slam winning campaign but Leinster's Gordon D'Arcy is sure to push strongly for a starting berth.
Denis Hurley has been included in the squad but will be closely monitored after sustaining a leg injury which forced his late withdrawal from Munster’s European win at the weekend. A final decision on his fitness will be made later in the week.
Several senior players sat out training with the Ireland senior squad in Limerick today. Donncha O'Callaghan (knee), Sean Cronin (sprained ankle) and Stephen Ferris (shin) did not train but none of the players at this point have been ruled out of contention for the Ireland’s first game of the championship at Croke Park on February 6th (2.30pm).
Ronan O'Gara, Gordon D'Arcy, Jonathan Sexton and Shane Horgan also sat out training as a precautionary measure after featuring for their province’s at the weekend.
The Ireland A team and replacements will be finalised on Thursday ahead of Sunday’s game which gets under way at 2pm.
Ireland A Squad (v England Saxons)
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster)
Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon /Ulster)
Ian Dowling (Shannon/Munster)
John Fogarty (De La Salle Palmerston/Leinster)
Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster)
Ian Humphreys (Ballymena/Ulster)
Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Shane Jennings (St.Mary's College/Leinster)
Keith Matthews (Buccaneers/Connacht)
John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht)
Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Johne Murphy (Leicester)
Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Sean O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
Niall Ronan (Shannon/Munster)
Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)