10 Munster Players In Irish Squad

10 Munster players have been named in an extended 44-man Irish squad for the upcoming Six Nations and the Ireland Wolfhounds fixture against England Saxons.

Six forwards have been named in the squad with Ireland captain Paul O'Connell, Munster captain Peter O'Mahony, Stephen Archer, Damien Varley, Dave Kilcoyne and Tommy O'Donnell all included.

Four Munster backs have been named as Keith Earls, Felix Jones and half-backs Conor Murray and Ian Keatley are rewarded for their fine form this season.

Donnacha Ryan has been allowed more time to recover from injury with Simon Zebo staying with Munster to get more game-time as he has only just returned from injury.

Both players could yet be called up for the Six Nations but Mike Sherry will definitely miss out due to his long-term knee injury.

Uncapped Robin Copeland has also been named in the squad, Copeland currently plies his trade with Cardiff Blues but joins Munster at the end of the current season.

Ireland Head Coach Joe Schmidt, explained, "As always a number of the selections were very tight. Following on from the Guinness Series, there is an experienced core of players in the squad who will offer continuity, as well as some new additions who have been selected with an eye to the future.

"With Robin Copeland returning to play in Ireland next season it will be an opportunity for him to impress during the training week, while some of the younger or less experienced players such as Rob Herring, Iain Henderson, Rhys Ruddock, Kieran Marmion and Felix Jones have turned in some very positive performances to earn spots in the squad.”

Ireland Wolfhounds face England Saxons at Kingsholm on Saturday, 25th of January. Munster Forwards Coach Anthony Foley is the Wolfhounds Head Coach with Ulster’s Neil Doak the Assistant Coach.

Ireland kick off this season’s Six Nations campaign at home against Scotland on Sunday the 2nd of February (ko 3:00pm). The second game will also be played at the Aviva, against Wales a week later, before a trip to England’s Twickenham Stadium.

The penultimate game will see Ireland host Italy on Saturday, 8th of March before the campaign is finished in the Stade de France on Saturday, 15th March.

Ireland has sold out the Aviva Stadium for their RBS 6 Nations home games against Scotland, Wales and Italy in 2014.

Ireland were last in action in November when they convincingly beat Samoa in Joe Schmidt’s first game in charge before a disappointing defeat to Australia and then an agonising loss to New Zealand with all three matches played at the Aviva Stadium.

Ireland Extended 2014 RBS 6 Nations Championship Squad:

Forwards (24)

Rodney Ah You (Buccaneers/Connacht)*
Stephen Archer (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)
Robin Copeland (Cardiff Blues)*
Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
Robbie Diack (Malone/Ulster)*
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster)
Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster)
Rob Herring (Ballinahinch/Ulster)*
Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Mike McCarthy (Leinster)
Jack McGrath (St. Mary's College/Leinster)
Martin Moore (Lansdowne/Leinster)*
Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster)*
Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
Tommy O'Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster)
Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
Rhys Ruddock (St Mary's College/Leinster)
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Dan Tuohy (Ballymena/Ulster)
Damien Varley (Garryowen/Munster)

Backs (20)

Isaac Boss (Terenure College/Leinster)
Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)
Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster)
Felix Jones (Shannon/Munster)
David Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster)
Ian Madigan (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht)*
Luke Marshall (Ballymena/Ulster)
Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)
Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster)
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Jonathan Sexton (Racing Metro 92)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)

*Denotes uncapped player