Ireland Squad Named For Argentina

The Ireland coaching team have named a 30 player squad for the two Test tour of Argentina in June.

The squad, which includes 8 Munster players, will fly to Buenos Aires on Sunday 1st June the day after the RaboDirect PRO12 Final.

The group is made up of 16 forwards and 14 backs and contains four uncapped players – Munster prop James Cronin, Ulster back-row Robbie Diack and hooker Rob Herring and Connacht scrum-half Kieran Marmion.

Cronin is joined by Dave Kilcoyne, Damien Varley and Ireland Captain Paul O'Connell in the forwards while Keith Earls, Simon Zebo, Felix Jones, Conor Murray are named in the backs.

The 23-year-old prop is named in his first Irish squad after an impressive season that saw him make 26 appearances for the province, scoring 3 tries. Like his fellow loose-head Dave Kilcoyne, James is a product of the Munster Rugby academy and he featured in 7 of Munster's 8 Heineken Cup games this season.

The first Test takes place at the Estadio Centenario in Resistancia in Chaco Province in the northeast of the country on Saturday 7th June. The second Test will be played in the Estadio José Fierro in Tucumán in North-western Argentina on Saturday 14th June. Both Tests against the Pumas will kick-off at 15:40 local time (19:40 Irish Time).

The Ireland squad will depart for the two Test tour on Sunday 1st June and both Tests will be broadcast live on SKY Sports 2 with coverage starting from 7.00pm.

Ireland 2014 Argentina Tour Squad:

Forwards (16)

Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) 75
James Cronin (Dolphin/Munster) *
Robbie Diack (Malone/Ulster) *
Iain Henderson (Ballinahinch/Ulster) 10
Chris Henry (Malone/Ulster) 14
Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster) 65
Rob Herring (Ballinahinch/Ulster) *
Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 8
Jack McGrath (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 8
Marty Moore (Lansdowne/Leinster) 5
Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) 2
Paul O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster) 92
Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster) 39
Rhys Ruddock (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 2
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 15
Damien Varley (Garryowen/Munster) 2

Backs (14)

Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 5
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 39
Robbie Henshaw (Buccanneers/Connacht) 3
Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster) 9
Felix Jones (Shannon/Munster) 5
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 54
Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) *
Luke Marshall (Ballinahinch/Ulster) 5
Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 26
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 27
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster) 54
Johnny Sexton (Racing Metro) 43
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster) 55
Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster) 6

*Denotes uncapped player

Argentina v Ireland
Saturday 7th June, 2014
Estadio Centenario, Resistencia, Chaco
KO 15:40 local time (19:40 Irish time)

REF: Glen Jackson (NZ) ASSIST REFS: Mike Fraser (NZ), Jaco van Heerden (SA) TMO: Shaun Veldsman (SA)

Argentina v Ireland
Saturday 14th June, 2014
Estadio José Fierro, Tucumán
KO 15:40 local time (19:40 Irish time)

REF: Pascal Gauzerre (FRA) ASSIST REFS: Glen Jackson (NZ) Lourens van der Merwe (SA) TMO: Shaun Veldsman (SA)