Carbery returns to Irish squad but Earls ruled out for Italy clash

The Munster man was left out of the original squad with teammate Jack Crowley included in his maiden Six Nations squad.

The Ireland coaching group have assembled 37 players to prepare for Round 3 of the 2023 Guinness Six Nations Championship as the squad travel to Rome to take on Italy this Saturday (Kick-off 2.15pm).

After missing out on the opening two rounds, Joey Carbery is added to the squad to provide additional cover as Johnny Sexton continues his rehab this week.

Gavin Coombes and Roman Salanoa return to the squad after featuring for Munster in their 58-3 win over Ospreys where the latter bagged a hat trikc. Caolin Blade, Jordan Larmour, Jimmy O’Brien, Jamie Osborne, Cian Prendergast, and Jacob Stockdale also return to the squad after playing in the URC over the weekend.

However, Keith Earls is unavailable this week with a calf issue while Jamison Gibson Park, Robbie Henshaw and Tadhg Furlong will all continue their respective rehab programmes. Rob Herring is continuing his graduated return to play protocols.

Cian Healy and Dan Sheehan are both included having come through their individual hamstring rehab programmes. 

Scott Penny and Kieran Treadwell have been added to the squad for the first time in this campaign. Treadwell featured against South Africa and Fiji in November while Penny played for Emerging Ireland against the Griquas and Pumas in Bloemfontein.

Tadhg Beirne was last week ruled out of the remainder of the Championship and Joe McCarthy will also miss the rest of this year’s campaign with an ankle issue.

Ireland Squad – Round 3 2023 Guinness Six Nations Championship:

Backs (17)

Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 43 caps
Caolin Blade (Connacht/Galwegians) 1 cap
Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD) 16 caps
Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 37 caps
Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 9 caps
Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution) 2 caps
Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians) 10 caps
Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 27 caps
Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Marys College) 30 caps
James Lowe (Leinster) 17 caps
Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor) 11 caps
Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 102 caps
Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster/Naas) 3 caps
Jamie Osborne (Leinster/Naas)*
Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 49 caps
Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 111 caps (c)
Jacob Stockdale (Ulster/Lurgan) 35 caps

Forwards (20)

Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) 8 caps
Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 29 caps
Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 35 caps
Gavin Coombes (Munster/Young Munster) 2 caps
Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 25 caps
Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 121 caps
Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 70 caps
Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 33 caps
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 19 caps
Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 50 caps
Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 91 caps
Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 6 caps
Scott Penny (Leinster/UCD)*
Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 50 caps
Cian Prendergast (Connacht/Corinthians) 1 cap
James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 50 caps
Roman Salanoa (Munster/Shannon)*
Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 14 caps
Kieran Treadwell (Ulster/Ballymena) 10 caps
Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 47 caps

*denotes uncapped player