Joe Schmidt names 10 Munster players in Six Nations squad

Ten Munster players have been named by the Ireland coaching group in their 36-man squad for the opening two rounds of the 2018 6 Nations Championship.

Backs Andrew Conway, Keith Earls, Chris Farrell and Ian Keatley are joined by forwards Dave Kilcoyne, Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony, John Ryan, Rory Scannell and CJ Stander are in the squad.

As expected, the departing Simon Zebo has not been included while Darren Sweetnam also misses out on selection.

Ireland take on France in Paris in their opening fixture on February 3rd.

Joe Schmidt, Ireland head coach commented,”It’s been great to witness some quality performances from provincial teams over the last seven weeks of European and derby matches, with a number of players performing well.

“There were some very tight decisions but it’s great to see some competitive depth in a number of positions.”

There are a number of players unavailable through injury: Munster’s Tommy O’Donnell and Niall Scannell, Finlay Bealham, Jamie Heaslip, Sean O’Brien, Rhys Ruddock, Luke Marshall, Garry Ringrose, Jared Payne and Craig Gilroy.

Ireland Squad (Nat West 6 Nations Championship 2018, Round 1 and 2)

FORWARDS (20)

Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) c 106 caps

Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 5 caps

Sean Cronin (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 56 caps

Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht) 11 caps

Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 19 caps

Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 73 caps

Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 34 caps

Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 3 cap

Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 22 caps

Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster) 4 caps

Jack McGrath (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 42 caps

Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) 18 caps

Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 42 caps

Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 3 caps

Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht) 3 caps

James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 4 caps

John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 11 caps

CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 18 caps

Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 53 caps

Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 9 caps

BACKS (16)

Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 2 caps

Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Leinster) 6 caps

Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 6 caps

Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 62 caps

Chris Farrell (Young Munster/Munster) 2 caps

Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 31 caps

Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 78 caps

Ian Keatley (Young Munster/Munster) 7 caps

Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster)*

Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) 18 caps

Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 32 caps

Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) 6 caps

Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 59 caps

Johnny Sexton (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 68 caps

Rory Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) 3 caps

Jacob Stockdale (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) 4 caps

*Denotes Uncapped Player