Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has decided to release 13 players to their respective provinces ahead of this weekend’s PRO14 fixtures.
Farrell and his squad are preparing for their tough trip to Twickenham on February 23rd, where they face England in round three of the Six Nations. With the 13 players being released Farrell travels to Cork with a reduced 23-man squad for a two-day long training camp.
There is a total of five players from Leinster who have been given the chance for game-time this weekend with the province as they play host to the Cheetahs, with Luke McGrath, Ronan Kelleher, Will Connors, Max Deegan and Dave Kearney all hoping to help the boys in blue continue their 100% record this season.
Elsewhere, Ulster will have the opportunity to select Billy Burns, Stuart McCloskey, Jack McGrath and Tom O’Toole for their game against the Ospreys in Wales.
Munster take on the Kings at home on Friday and will be boosted by the return of Chris Farrell and Jack O’Donoghue.
While the final two players are Connacht duo Ultan Dillane and Dave Heffernan, who will hope to play their part during their side’s clash with the Cardiff Blues.
The rest of the squad will travel to Cork this week as mentioned above and are to hold an open training session on Thursday where they will train with the Irish U20s.
Ireland will be hoping to continue their winning start to this year’s Six Nations campaign when they take on England, as they look to take back the Triple Crown.
Check Out the 23-Man Squad Retained by Ireland Below.
Backs: (11)
Will Addison (Ulster) 4 caps; Bundee Aki (Connacht) 25 caps; Ross Byrne (Leinster) 5 caps; Andrew Conway (Munster) 20 caps; John Cooney (Ulster) 10 caps; Keith Earls (Munster) 83 caps; Robbie Henshaw (Leinster) 42 caps; Jordan Larmour (Leinster) 23 caps; Conor Murray (Munster) 80 caps; Jonathan Sexton (Leinster) 90 caps; Jacob Stockdale (Ulster) 27 caps
Forwards: (12)
Caelan Doris (Leinster) 1 cap; Tadhg Furlong (Leinster) 43 caps; Cian Healy (Leinster) 97 caps; Iain Henderson (Ulster) 55 caps; Rob Herring (Ulster) 10 caps; Dave Kilcoyne (Munster) 38 caps; Peter O’Mahony (Munster) 66 caps; Andrew Porter (Leinster) 25 caps; James Ryan (Leinster) 25 caps; CJ Stander (Munster) 40 caps; Devin Toner (Leinster) 69 caps; Josh van der Flier (Leinster) 25 caps
