Rugby:Without the Leinster players involved in the Pro12 final the previous Sunday, Ireland coach Declan Kidney has taken the opportunity to draft seven uncapped players into his squad for the match against the Barbarians in Gloucester on May 29th.
Kidney will run the rule over Mike Sherry, Ronan Loughney, Declan Fitzpatrick, Simon Zebo, Craig Gilroy, Nevin Spence and Paul Marshall when the squad meet up next week to begin their preparations for the summer series in New Zealand.
And while there will be a number of seasoned campaigners in this largely experimental selection, Munster skipper Paul O’Connell has been ruled out as he continues to recover from a knee injury. The secondrow has not been ruled out of the tour against the All Blacks yet with a final decision on his availability due to be taken after the Barbarians game.
In the interim, Kidney will name his squad to face the All Blacks after this weekend’s Heineken Cup final between Leinster and Ulster.
“The game against the Baa-Ba’s is vital for us in our preparations for the tour as it gives some players the chance to gain match fitness if they have not played for a couple of weeks, allows us to further expose some players to the national set up and also gives us the opportunity to get some foundations in place for the test series,” Kidney said today.
“We have a good majority of our selections decided on for the tour party at this point, but the Heineken final gives us possibly one last opportunity to watch players in what will be a massive occasion for Irish Rugby.”
The Barbarians have also confirmed their 33-man squad for the fixtures against England, Ireland and Wales. Former Ireland international Mick O’Driscoll will join his Munster teammate BJ Botha
in the selection while Ulster’s John Afoa, Pedrie Wannenburg and Leinster fullback Isa Nacewa are also included.
England centre Mike Tindall, Wales outhalf Stephen Jones and Scotland scrumhalf Rory Lawson are among the debutants behind the scrum for the invitational side, coached by former Italy and Japan boss John Kirwan, with Samoa pair Sailosi Tagicakibau and Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu also set to make their bows.
Up front Duncan Jones, Afoa, John Beattie, Juan Manuel Leguizamon and O’Driscoll will get their first taste of Baa-Baas rugby. There are a plethora of southern hemisphere stars in the party, including former New Zealand full-back Mils Muliaina, South Africa’s World Cup-winning captain John Smit and Leinster’s Fijian back Nacewa.
Ireland:Rory Best (Banbridge-Ulster) Tom Court (Malone-Ulster) Stephen Ferris (Dungannon-Ulster) Declan Fitzpatrick (Dungannon-Ulster) Chris Henry (Belfast Harlequins-Ulster) Ronan Loughney (Galwegians-Connacht) John Muldoon (Galwegians-Connacht) Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution-Munster) Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution-Munster) Donnacha Ryan (Shannon-Munster) Mike Sherry (Garryowen-Munster) Dan Tuohy (Ballymena-Ulster); Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins-Ulster) Keith Earls (Young Munster-Munster) Craig Gilroy (Dungannon-Ulster) Paul Marshall (Ballynahinch-Ulster) Conor Murray (Garryowen-Munster) Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution-Munster) Nevin Spence (Ballynahinch-Ulster) Andrew Trimble (Ballymena-Ulster) Paddy Wallace (Ballymena-Ulster) Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution-Munster)
Barbarians:Nacewa (Leinster), Muliaina (NTT Docomo), Balshaw (Biarritz), Heymans (Bayonne), Williams (Ospreys), Sackey (Stade Francais), Tagicakibau (London Irish), Fuimaono-Sapolu (Gloucester), Tindall (Gloucester), Traille (Biarritz), Contepomi (Stade Francais), Donald (Bath), Jones (Scarlets), Lawson (Gloucester), Fillol (Stade Francais); Brits (Saracens), August (Biarritz), Smit (Saracens), De Malmanche (Stade Francais), Afoa (Ulster), Jones (Ospreys), Botha (Munster), Tialata (Bayonne), Thion (Biarritz), O'Driscoll (Munster), Van Zyl (Stade Francais), Taele (Biarritz), Lakafia (Biarritz), Burban (Stade Francais), Qera (Gloucester), Beattie (Glasgow), Wannenburg (Ulster), Leguizamon (Lyon).
