Rugby - 31 man Ireland squad named for Tour of US and Japan
The Ireland coaching group has named a 31 player squad for the three Test summer tour of the USA and Japan in June.
Ireland's first game of the Summer Tour takes place against the US Eagles at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey on Saturday 10th June. The squad then flies to Japan for two Tests against the RWC19 hosts who have been drawn in Pool A alongside Ireland at the World Cup. The first Test takes place at the Ecopa Stadium in Shizuoka on Saturday 17th June with the final Test of the tour being held at the Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday 24th June.
The squad contains 8 uncapped players – John Cooney, Dave Heffernan, Rory O'Loughlin, Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Rory Scannell, Jacob Stockdale and Kieran Treadwell.
Ireland Head Coach, Joe Schmidt, commented, "With eleven players due to tour with the British and Irish Lions, plus a number of injuries to experienced internationals, the summer tour squad includes plenty of youth.
"There is a real freshness to the group, including the coaching staff, so we're looking forward to what will be a very challenging summer tour.”
We have retained a sprinkling of experienced players, some of whom may yet be called up to the Lions, but the focus is really on challenging the younger players to cope with the heat and foreign conditions as well as the speed and physicality of test rugby.”
One further player player will be added to the squad following the weekend's provincial fixtures.
The tour will also see three young Irish coaches spend time with the national team. Racing 92's Ronan O'Gara will accompany the team for the New Jersey leg of the tour with Leinster's Girvan Dempsey with the group for the first week in Japan and Munster's Felix Jones working with the team for the final week of the tour in Tokyo.
Ireland Squad Summer Tour 2017 – USA & Japan
| Finlay Bealham | (Buccaneers/Connacht) | 6 caps |
| Joey Carbery | (Clontarf/Leinster) | 3 caps |
| Jack Conan | (Old Belvedere/Leinster) | 1 cap |
| Andrew Conway | (Garryowen/Munster) | 1 cap |
| John Cooney | (Connacht) | uncapped |
| Keith Earls | (Young Munster/Munster) | 59 caps |
| Cian Healy | (Clontarf/Leinster) | 67 caps |
| Dave Heffernan | (Connacht/Buccaneers) | uncapped |
| Paddy Jackson | (Dungannon/Ulster) | 23 caps |
| Dave Kilcoyne | (UL Bohemians/Munster) | 17 caps |
| Dan Leavy | (UCD/Leinster) | 2 caps |
| Kieran Marmion | (Corinthians/Connacht) | 13 caps |
| Luke Marshall | (Ballymena/Ulster) | 9 caps |
| Luke McGrath | (UCD/Leinster) | 1 cap |
| Tommy O'Donnell | (UL Bohemians/Munster) | 12 caps |
| Jack O'Donoghue | (UL Bohemians/Munster) | 1 cap |
| Tiernan O'Halloran | (Buccaneers/Connacht) | 3 caps |
| Rory O'Loughlin | (Old Belvedere/Leinster) | uncapped |
| Andrew Porter | (UCD/Leinster) | uncapped |
| Garry Ringrose | (UCD/Leinster) | 8 caps |
| Rhys Ruddock | (St Mary's College/Leinster) | 13 caps |
| James Ryan | (UCD/Leinster) | uncapped |
| John Ryan | (Cork Constitution/Munster) | 6 caps |
| Niall Scannell | (Dolphin/Munster) | 4 caps |
| Rory Scannell | (Dolphin/Munster) | uncapped |
| Jacob Stockdale | (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) | uncapped |
| Devin Toner | (Lansdowne/Leinster) | 47 caps |
| James Tracy | (UCD/Leinster) | 2 caps |
| Kieran Treadwell | (Ballymena/Ulster) | uncapped |
| Josh van der Flier | (UCD/Leinster) | 7 caps |
| Simon Zebo | (Cork Constitution/Munster) | 33 caps |
Supporters can get all the news from the summer tour via the IRFU's website and social media channels. Follow us on.
Online: www.irishrugby.ie
Youtube: IrishRugbyTV
Twitter: @IrishRugby
Instagram: Irish Rugby
Facebook: IrishRugby
Ireland Squad Summer Tour 2017 – USA & Japan Fixtures
USA v IRELAND
Saturday 10th June, 2017, KO 17:00 (GMT 22:00)
Red Bull Arena, New Jersey, USA
Japan v IRELAND
Saturday 17th June, 2017 KO 14:00 (GMT 06:00)
Ecopa Stadium, Shizuoka, Japan
Japan v IRELAND
Saturday 24th June, 2017 KO 14:40 (GMT 06:40)
Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo, Japan