Ireland name 34-man squad for Autumn Nations Cup Tests to come against Wales, England, Georgia and one of France, Scotland, Fiji or Italy. Uncapped Leinster wing James Lowe, uncapped Ulster out-half Billy Burns and Munster wing Keith Earls are included
Thursday 5 November 2020 16:54, UK
Uncapped duo James Lowe and Billy Burns, as well as experienced wing Keith Earls, have been added to Andy Farrell's Ireland squad for the Autumn Nations Cup.
New Zealand-born Leinster wing Lowe has been training with Ireland since the squad originally got together in October for the rescheduled Six Nations Tests, but only became eligible to appear for the side under residency this month.
Ulster out-half Billy Burns has replaced Connacht No 10 Jack Carty within the 34-man squad, while No 8 Jack Conan has returned to Leinster to continue his rehab programme.
A third uncapped player within the panel is Munster back-three Shane Daly, who is yet to make his debut despite having been with the squad over the last month.
Connacht pair Kieran Marmion and Quinn Roux have been released to play for their province this weekend against Dragons in the PRO14, and will re-join the national set-up thereafter.
Ulster second row Iain Henderson will be available for selection again following his suspension, but players such as tighthead Tadhg Furlong, loosehead Dave Kilcoyne, hooker Niall Scannell, centre Garry Ringrose and wing Jordan Larmour remain out injured.
Ulster scrum-half John Cooney has once again been overlooked within the squad selection, as has Leinster nine Luke McGrath.
Ireland begin their Autumn Nations Cup campaign by hosting Wales in Dublin next Friday (November 13), before travelling to play England at Twickenham (November 21), hosting Georgia (November 28) and then playing one more play-off Test in Dublin against one of France, Scotland, Fiji or Italy (December 5).
Backs (16): Bundee Aki, Billy Burns, Ross Byrne, Andrew Conway, Shane Daly, Keith Earls, Chris Farrell, Jamison Gibson Park, Robbie Henshaw, Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Kieran Marmion, Stuart McCloskey, Conor Murray Jonathan Sexton, Jacob Stockdale.
Forwards (17): Finlay Bealham, Tadhg Beirne, Ed Byrne, Will Connors, Ultan Dillane, Caelan Doris, Cian Healy, Dave Heffernan, Iain Henderson, Rob Herring, Ronan Kelleher, Peter O'Mahony, Andrew Porter, Quinn Roux, James Ryan, John Ryan, CJ Stander, Josh van der Flier.