Five Munster players named in Ireland Six Nations squad

FIVE Munster players have been named on the Ireland Six Nations squad. Munster's Peter O'Mahony, Tadgh Beirne, Jack Crowley, Calvin Nash and Conor Murray are all part of the squad.

Ireland Interim Head Coach Simon Easterby has today named a 36-player squad, sponsored by Vodafone, for the forthcoming Guinness Men's Six Nations, captained by Caelan Doris.

Easterby takes the Head Coach reins for the 2025 Championship and Summer Tour (details to be announced) from Andy Farrell, who takes charge of the British and Irish Lions for this summer's Tour of Australia.

Easterby has included one uncapped player in his panel as Leinster prop Jack Boyle is named in the squad having been a Development Player during Ireland's Autumn Nations Series campaign last November.

Additionally, Easterby has called up Leinster’s Hugh Cooney, Ulster back row James McNabney and Connacht duo Ben Murphy and Cathal Forde as Development Players for this Six Nations. The uncapped quartet are set to link up with the Ireland squad at the IRFU High Performance Centre on Monday and travel to the pre-tournament training camp in Portugal.

Subject to their successful return from injury with their respective Provinces over the coming weeks, James Lowe and Dan Sheehan will link up with the Ireland squad in Portugal on Sunday week.

Ireland open their 2025 Championship against England at a sold-out Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 1 February (Kick-off 4.45pm), before travelling to Edinburgh to face Scotland in Round 2 on Sunday, 9 February (Kick-off 3pm).

After a break week, Easterby's side are in Cardiff to go head-to-head with Wales at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, 22 February (Kick-off 2.15pm), followed by a showdown against France at Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 8 March (Kick-off 2.15pm).

The Six Nations concludes with a trip to Rome on St Patrick's weekend, as Ireland face Italy at Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, 15 March (Kick-off 2.15pm).

Looking ahead to the start of the Championship, Simon Easterby, said: "The Guinness Six Nations is one of the most keenly-contested competitions in the global calendar and there’s great excitement across the playing group and coaching team for this year's tournament. Personally I’m hugely excited to work with a talented group and speaking to the players you can sense that they are up for the challenge.

"One of the highlights from the recent Autumn Nations Series was the emergence of a number of new internationals in Thomas Clarkson, Cormac Izuchukwu, Gus McCarthy and Sam Prendergast. We are also delighted to welcome back a number of players who were unavailable for the recent Autumn Nations Series and their return will further boost competition levels across the panel.

"While there is a good sense of continuity in selection, having those players back massively increases our competitiveness. It's also a great opportunity for three young Development Players - James, Ben and Cathal - to continue their recent good run of form for their Provinces and continue their development.

"The thing about the Six Nations is that you have to hit the ground running and there’s no room for building or easing your way into competition. Every match counts and facing England at home in the first round sharpens everyone's mind to what will be a big task ahead."

The Guinness Men's Six Nations is live on RTÉ and Virgin Media in Republic of Ireland and BBC and ITV in the United Kingdom. There will also be radio coverage on RTÉ Radio 1 and BBC Radio.

Ireland Men's Squad - Guinness Men's Six Nations:

Forwards (21):

Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster)(23)
Finlay Bealham (Corinthians/Connacht)(46)
Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster)(56)
Jack Boyle (UCD/Leinster)*
Thomas Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster)(2)
Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster)(46)
Caelan Doris (St Mary’s College/Leinster)(captain)(47)
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster)(78)
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)(134)
Iain Henderson (Academy/Ulster)(84)
Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(42)
Cormac Izuchukwu (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(1)
Rónan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster)(37)
Gus McCarthy (UCD/Leinster)(2)
Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster)(16)
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)(110)
Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster)(70)
Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht)(4)
James Ryan (UCD/Leinster)(67)
Dan Sheehan (Lansdowne/Leinster)(27)
Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster)(68)

Backs (15):

Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht)(60)
Caolin Blade (Galwegians/Connacht)(3)
Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster)(19)
Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster)(8)
Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)(38)
Mack Hansen (Corinthians/Connacht)(25)
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster)(77)
Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster)(42)
James Lowe (Leinster)(36)
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)(120)
Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster)(8)
Jimmy O’Brien (Naas/Leinster)(8)
Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)(5)
Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)(3)
Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster)(63)

Development Players (4):

Hugh Cooney (Clontarf/Leinster)*
Cathal Forde (Corinthians/Connacht)*
James McNabney (Ballymena/Ulster)*
Ben Murphy (Clontarf/Connacht)*

Ireland Fixtures - Guinness Men's Six Nations:

• Saturday, 1 February: Ireland v England, Aviva Stadium, 4.45pm
• Sunday, 9 February: Scotland v Ireland, Murrayfield Stadium, 3pm
• Saturday, 22 February: Wales v Ireland, Principality Stadium, 2.15pm
• Saturday, 8 March: Ireland v France, Aviva Stadium, 2.15pm
• Saturday, 15 March: Italy v Ireland, Stadio Olimpico, 2.15pm.