Rugby - Six Nations squad:Dan Tuohy and Declan Fitzpatrick have been named in the Ireland squad for the forthcoming Six Nations. The Ulster pair, newcomers to the international scene, are unlikely to feature in the championship itself but are included in Declan Kidney's initial selection.
In all, there are 44 names (including nine uncapped players) on Kidney’s extended panel which will be whittled down in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the squad will gather in Limerick next week as the Grand Slam champions prepare for the meeting with Italy.
Tuohy has been in commanding form for the Ravenhill side, particularly impressing in the Heineken Cup wins over Stade Francais and Edinburgh. Fitzpatrick is a more surprising selection given that he has only started two games for the province this season.
The other uncapped men are Leinster’s Fergus McFadden, Kevin McLaughlin, Devin Toner and John Fogarty , Leicester wing Johne Murphy, Connacht prop Brett Wilkinson and powerful Ulster number eight Chris Henry.
There were, however, few surprises in Kidney’s selection, with the core of last year’s squad intact. Marcus Horan, who played for Shannon at the weekend, returns after a minor operation while his front row colleague Rory Best return is included having made a swift recovery from a neck injury.
Jerry Flannery, who remains sidelined with a calf injury and has not trained since before Christmas, and Shane Jennings also make the cut.
Announcing today’s squad, Kidney conceded that the upcoming A internationals against the England Saxons (January 31st) and Scotland (February 5th) played a part in his thought process, while he also continues to build towards the 2011 World Cup.
“When naming the squad, we had three main considerations, with the most important being the opening game against Italy, followed by the A games and further down the line with the Rugby World Cup,” Kidney explained.
“Building a squad has always been a priority for us and the work done during the first half of the season means there is a little more experience accumulated in the squad then we had a couple of months ago.
“While there were new players who gained vital experience during the autumn series, the goal is to keep that experience ticking over with all the players who need international level game time.
“By having the A games early, it allows us to get people on the pitch so they can keep their own performance levels up as we progress through to the later stages of the championship.”
Although Kidney knows his squad has a shot at creating history by claiming back-to-back Grand Slams, he insists they are fully focused on their opening clash with Italy at Croke Park on February 6th.
“The provinces have all been in good form, making selection even more competitive, but we will need that for the big challenges that are ahead for the group over the next couple of weeks.” he said.
“The focus is very much on our game against Italy in a fortnight’s time and we are preparing for that first challenge”.
Kidney will select the Ireland A squad to face England Saxons on January 26th from his 44-man panel, with players being brought in from outside the squad for that fixture.
The head coach was unable to select wing Luke Fitzgerald and number eight Denis Leamy due to injury.
Ireland squad
Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster)
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster)
Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
Sean Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Gordon D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Ian Dowling (Shannon/Munster)
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
Declan Fitzpatrick (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)*
Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster)
John Fogarty (De La Salle Palmerston/Leinster)*
John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster)*
Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster)
Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster)
Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Shane Jennings (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Fergus McFadden (UCD/Leinster)*
Kevin McLaughlin (UCD/Leinster)*
Johne Murphy (Leicester)*
Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster)
Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
Sean O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
Jonathan Sexton (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)*
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
Dan Touhy (Ballymena/Ulster)*
David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
Brett Wilkinson (Galwegians/Connacht)*
* uncapped player