Churchill Cup stars in Irish squad
Fri, 01 Aug 2008 11:02
New Ireland coach Declan Kidney has shown his hand by naming his first training squad - to take part in a pre-season get together in Cork next week.
The 45 man squad includes the players who toured with the Ireland team to New Zealand and Australia in June, as well as 11 players from the Churchill Cup squad.
These include Donncha Ryan and Keith Earls, both of whom will be involved in their first Ireland camp.
Gordon D’Arcy, who missed the majority of the Six Nations championship and the remainder of the season after breaking his arm against Italy, makes a welcome return to the squad, as does Andrew Trimble and Leo Cullen, who both missed the June tour due to injury.
The four-day camp will take place in Cork from Tuesday, August 5 and will be worked in as part of the player’s pre-season fitness and conditioning programmes that they are currently undergoing with their provinces and clubs.
Kidney said the camp is an opportunity for the coaching staff to work with the players and set some foundations ahead of the November internationals - when they Canada (at Thomond Park, November 8), New Zealand (Croke Park, November 15) and Argentina (Croke Park, November 22).
"We have a new blend of experience in the coaching staff and we felt that this camp would be key to getting the ideas of both the staff and players across ahead of the new season," Kidney said.
"Once we get into September, it really is a short space of time before we will arrive at our first camp ahead of the November games, so it will be important to our preparation. It is an exciting time and both the coaching staff and myself are looking forward to getting down to business and working with what is a talented squad of players."
Ireland squad: Neil Best (Northampton), Rory Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster), Tommy Bowe (Ospreys), Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster), Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon/Ulster), Robert Casey (London Irish), Tom Court (Ballymena/Ulster), Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster), Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster), Girvan Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster), Ian Dowling (Shannon/Munster), Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht), Keith Earls (Garryowen/Munster), Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster), Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster), Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster), John Hayes (Shannon/Munster), Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Clontarf/Leinster), Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster), Shane Horgan (Boyne/Leinster), Bernard Jackman (Clontarf/Leinster), Shane Jennings (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster), Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster), Geordan Murphy (Leicester), Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster), Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster), Malcolm O'Kelly (St. Mary's College/Leinster), Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster), Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster), Tomas O'Leary (Dolphin/Munster), Alan Quinlan (Shannon/Munster), Eoin Reddan (Wasps), Michael Ross (Harlequins), Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster), Jonathan Sexton (St.Mary's College/Leinster), Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster), Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster), David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster), Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster), Roger Wilson (Northampton), Bryan Young (Ballymena/Ulster).
