Joe Schmidt has named his 31-man Ireland squad for the upcoming Rugby World Cup in England. Paul O’Connell, with a whopping 103 caps to his name, captains a group that is made up of 17 forwards and 14 backs.
There is no room for Andrew Trimble amongst the back three players, with the versatility of Luke Fitzgerald and Keith Earls likely putting them ahead of the Ulsterman. Paddy Jackson and Ian Madigan are the back-ups to Johnny Sexton, with Ian Keatley missing out.
Schmidt has gambled at scrum-half, taking only two specialists in the form of Conor Murray and Eoin Reddan and leaving out both Isaac Boss and Kieron Marmion.
“The players have worked incredibly hard over the past two months,” said Schmidt. “Sunday was a difficult and very long day for the coaching team and an anxious one for many players.
“There were some very tight decisions, particularly in the back three and it was also a challenge to make sure that key positions were covered as much as a squad of 31 players allows.
“A number of players were very unlucky to miss selection. We know from observing past World Cups that it’s important for us to keep track of their performances because some of them are likely to be involved in the tournament.”
IRELAND SQUAD FOR RUGBY WORLD CUP 2015
Forwards: Rory Best, Sean Cronin, Tadhg Furlong, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Iain Henderson, Chris Henry, Jack McGrath, Jordi Murphy, Sean O’Brien. Paul O’Connell (c), Peter O’Mahony, Mike Ross, Donnacha Ryan, Richardt Strauss, Devin Toner, Nathan White
Backs: Tommy Bowe, Darren Cave, Keith Earls, Luke Fitzgerald, Robbie Henshaw, Paddy Jackson, David Kearney, Rob Kearney, Ian Madigan, Conor Murray, Jared Payne, Eoin Reddan, Jonathan Sexton, Simon Zebo
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
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