Andy Farrell's first squad was not one named for shock value, though the omissions are as notable as the new additions.

Connacht coach Andy Friend says he will field a full strength team in his side’s final Champions Cup game of the season against Montpellier despite already being out of the running to qualify for the latter stages of the competition.

Skipper Jarrad Butler has had to deal with contrasting emotions in the Connacht changing room at the Sportsground this week as several members of his squad dealt with mixed news from the Irish camp.

Stuart Lancaster says Johnny Sexton is “100% committed” to Leinster, as the head coach dismissed speculation linking the out-half with a move to Lyon.

There's no room for Rob Kearney, Seán Cronin, Jordi Murphy, Jack Carty, John Ryan or Kieran Marmion – with newly eligible Jamison Gibson-Park jumping ahead of the Connacht man at scrum-half.

With the Six Nations kicking off in less than two months, it is the first squad meet-up since the national team returned from Japan.

A knee ligament injury means Connacht will have to plan without their player of the year Colby Fianga’a for this weekend’s Champions Cup clash with Gloucester and next week’s inter-pro derby against Munster.

Friend, who coached Harlequins from 2005-08, said his players fell for the ruse when Gloucester’s lineout and scrum tactics were apparently left on a whiteboard for them to see the day before a game at Kingsholm.

Tom Farrell’s hopes of playing in next year’s Six Nations have been dealt a blow with the Connacht centre set to be sidelined until the New Year with a fractured shoulder.

It’s amazing how quickly something can turn for a player and when Conor Fitzgerald was let go from the Munster academy 18 months ago the last thing on his mind would have been lighting up the home of Toulouse with an awesome display in the Heineken Champions Cup.

The veteran Leinster lock had been one of the cornerstones of Ireland’s successes during Schmidt’s six-year reign as Ireland boss

"Since joining Ulster last summer, I’ve made it my home and have really enjoyed my time here."

Kieran Marmion has signed a new deal with Connacht, the province has announced.

Keith Earls will make his first Munster appearance of the season in tomorrow's Champions Cup opener against the Ospreys.

Connacht coach Andy Friend has warned his side can’t afford to get into an “arm wrestle” against Montpellier in their return to the Heineken Champions Cup this weekend.

Felipe Contepomi made the point last week that every Irish player returning from duties in Japan would process the disappointment of the World Cup in their own unique way.

Connacht coach Andy Friend is hopeful of Bundee Aki committing his future at the Sportsground as he continues to build his squad.

Five-try Connacht picked up their second bonus-point victory in a week as Andy Friend’s side overwhelmed Dragons at Rodney Parade.

Dave Kearney returns for defending champions Leinster for their Guinness PRO14 clash with Edinburgh at the RDS tomorrow evening.

Ultan Dillane and Kieran Marmion remain as replacement options.

World Cups tend to throw up all manner of surprises.

You never know who you might bump into in Carton House during an Ireland camp.

Joe Schmidt makes his final trip to the Aviva Stadium this afternoon as he takes charge of Ireland on home soil for the 34th and last time.

It is a well-balanced Ireland squad, assembled by Joe Schmidt in forensic detail, with the intention of negotiating a successful seven-week World Cup campaign.

Joe Schmidt has spent four years building a greater strength in depth into the Ireland squad but Jonathan Sexton knows that the success of such endeavours will be judged on how the team fares at the World Cup.

So now the real work begins. The debates over squad selection are over, at least inside the Irish camp, and now comes the business end of Joe Schmidt’s preparations for Japan and the 2019 World Cup.

Jean Kleyn: No matter what Agustin Pichot thinks, the South African-born Munster lock has qualified by right and earned his place the hard way after three years of acclimatisation in Limerick.

Joe Schmidt on ...

Jack Carty extended his 27th birthday celebrations into an extra day yesterday with the news he had been included in Ireland’s 2019 World Cup squad.

Ireland’s deep backline resources for the forthcoming World Cup campaign have been underlined by the quality of the players Joe Schmidt has decided to leave at home.

Joe Schmidt described the difficulty of narrowing his Ireland 2019 World Cup squad down from 45 over the course of the summer before making his final cut to bring the number to 31 on Monday.

The IRFU named the group that will travel to Japan today, six days earlier than planned, after the shock demotion was leaked.

In another unexpected move, head coach Schmidt preferred Luke McGrath as his back-up scrum-half over Conor Murray’s long-standing number two Kieran Marmion.

Devin Toner is expected to be a shock omission from Ireland’s 31-man World Cup squad.

Jack Carty got the official prize, but who was your man-of-the-match?

Simon Lewis looks at how Wales and Ireland shape up ahead of their World Cup warm-up.

Joe Schmidt has urged his players not to go into their shells when Ireland get their chance to atone for their Twickenham nightmare against Wales tomorrow.

It does not take a mathematician to realise seven into five won’t go but the task facing Ireland team management as they juggle their half-back permutations for the upcoming World Cup may be up there with the work of the best Nobel Prize winners.

Ireland could be ready to hand inexperienced fly-halves Jack Carty and Ross Byrne their chances to capitalise on Joey Carbery’s injury with valuable game time in the toughest circumstances against England at Twickenham this Saturday.

Munster out-half Joey Carbery is part of the 40-man squad flying to Portugal today for an eight-day warm-weather training camp.

Eddie Jones may well be showing his World Cup hand a month early when he unveils his 31-man England squad for Japan today but the final cut can wait for Joe Schmidt and his Ireland selection permutations.

During this year’s Six Nations, the vast majority of the players on show last Saturday were either watching from the bench, the stands or from the comfort of their couches.

Simon Lewis Tadhg Beirne’s role as a potential replacement flanker against Italy at the Aviva Stadium this afternoon underlines how this game is just as important for the bench as it is for Ireland’s starters.