15 Munster Players Named for Irish Camp

Following on from their Belfast camp held at the end of July, the Irish squad will now re-group in Limerick on Sunday August 16th for their second three day training camp. A 37 man panel has been announced for the next Ireland camp which is due to take place in Limerick from August 16 – 19. The final squad training camp will take place in September.

The first training camp, which took place in Belfast at the end of July, contained players who were involved in the summer tours to North America and the Churchill Cup as well as some senior players who were not included for the summer tours, such as Marcus Horan and the returning injured Lion Jerry Flannery.

Several players from the Belfast training sessions have been retained for the upcoming camp which will also see the return of members of the Ireland squad who toured with the British & Irish Lions in South Africa, as well as some England based players.

Players such as Denis Fogarty, Felix Jones, Barry Murphy and Niall Ronan who were involved in the first camp now make way for the returning players. 

While Munster’s recently returned Lions, Keith Earls, Ronan O’Gara, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, David Wallace and John Hayes all join the squad in Limerick.  Also included is Tomás O’Leary who is currently in Portugal training with the Munster squad as he continues to progress steadily with his ankle injury as is evident by his inclusion in the squad.

Commenting on the training camp, Ireland Coach Declan Kidney said, “The Belfast Camp was productive in that we were able to continue to work with the players and pick up where we left off from the summer tour and the Churchill Cup. A lot of players are being given an opportunity and from that point of view as well, we were happy with the spread of players we were in contact with in Belfast.”

“The next camp will be slightly different as the players involved with the Lions tour come back into the fold, so it allows us to set some foundations for the coming season.”

Ireland Squad (37):
Neil Best (Northampton)
Rory Best (Banbridge/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)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster)
John Hayes (Shannon/Munster)
Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster)
Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster)
Shane Jennings (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Fergus McFadden (UCD/Leinster)
Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster)
Donncha O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
Mick O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Ronan O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Tomas O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
Jonathan Sexton (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)
Devon Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)
Brett Wilkinson (Galwegians/Connacht)