Irish Rugby Head Coach Simon Easterby has named his squad of 36 for the 2025 Guinness Six Nations Championship, and seven Connacht players have been included in the fold.
First named as Development Players are centre Cathal Forde and scrum-half Ben Murphy, who along with Leinster's Hugh Cooney and Ulster's James McNabney, make up the four available spots. 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.
In the forwards, there were selections for Connacht captain Cian Prendergast and long-time Irish international Finlay Bealham. Meanwhile in the backline, there are selections of Irish stalwarts Mack Hansen and Bundee Aki and a call-up for Caolin Blade, who fills in for the injured Craig Casey.
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.
