In-form Hurley in the frame as Kidney picks Ireland squad

DENIS HURLEY’S outstanding form has catapulted him into contention for the left wing position on the national team for the RBS 6 Nations Championship.

He was yesterday included in Declan Kidney’s 44-strong squad announced ahead of the Six Nations and A internationals against the England Saxons in Bath on January 31 and Scotland A at Ravenhill on February 5.

Hurley has had a series of fine performances for Munster in both the Magners League and Heineken Cup including fine tries against the Scarlets, Perpignan and Treviso.

With Luke Fitzgerald ruled out with a knee injury, the left wing position is up for grabs and Hurley has laid his claims very firmly before Kidney.

The 25-year-old, 6 ft 2inch, 15stone 1lb Navan-born Hurley earned his only Irish cap against the USA last summer and has since blossomed on the wing with his deceptive pace, clever lines of running and strength both in defence and attack.

Hurley is certainly not the only man bidding for the Ireland number 11 shirt with the likes of Keith Earls, Andrew Trimble, Ian Dowling and Johne Murphy in the squad.

The likelihood is that the only other sector of the team presenting the coach with a selection poser is the front-row of the scrum.

Marcus Horan is included having returned at club level last week after a heart operation prior to Christmas however Kidney has included seven other props in his selection. Furthermore, there is no shortage of hookers with Jerry Flannery, despite injury, included along with Sean Cronin and Rory Best who feared he would miss the campaign due to a serious neck injury which required surgery.

Whereas the return of Horan makes for as many as eight props, room was found for only two out-halves, Jonathan Sexton and Ronan O’Gara, in the 44, something that will not please Ulster’s Ian Humphreys or Connacht’s Ian Keatley.

Shane Jennings is named in the squad after his return from suspension to increase the competition for places in the backrow with his Leinster team mates Jamie Heaslip, Sean O’Brien, Kevin McLaughlin as well as Chris Henry, David Wallace and Stephen Ferris.

Peter Stringer, Isaac Boss, Tomas O’Leary and Eoin Reddan are battling for the scum half berth.

Kidney said last night: “When naming the squad, we had three main considerations, with the most important being the opening game against Italy, followed by the A games and further down the line with the World Cup.

“Building a squad has always been a priority for us and the work done during the first half of the season means a little more experience has accumulated then we had a couple of months ago.

“While there were new players who gained vital experience during the autumn, the goal is to keep that experience ticking over with all the players who need international level game time. By having the A games early, it allows us to get people on the pitch so they can keep their own performance levels up.

“The aim is now to continue that while trying to increase the competitiveness that we need for the Italy game. The provinces have all been in good form, making selection more competitive, but we will need that for the big challenges that are ahead for the group over the next couple of weeks. The focus is very much on our game against Italy in a fortnight and we are preparing for that challenge”.

IRELAND SQUAD (44): R Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), I Boss (Ballymena/Ulster), T Bowe (Ospreys), T Buckley (Shannon/Munster), T Court (Malone/Ulster), S Cronin (Buccaneers/Connacht), L Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster), G D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster), I Dowling (Shannon/Munster), K Earls (Young Munster/Munster), S Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster), D Fitzpatrick (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster),* J Flannery (Shannon/Munster), J Fogarty (De La Salle Palmerston/Leinster),* J Hayes (Bruff/Munster), C Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), J Heaslip (Naas/Leinster), C Henry (Ballymena/Ulster),* M Horan (Shannon/Munster), S Horgan (Boyne/Leinster), D Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster), S Jennings (St Mary’s College/Leinster), R Kearney (UCD/Leinster), F McFadden (UCD/Leinster),* K McLaughlin (UCD/Leinster),* J Murphy (Leicester),* D O’Callaghan (Cork Con/Munster), P O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster), M O’Driscoll (Cork Con/Munster), B O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster), R O’Gara (Cork Con/Munster), T O’Leary (Dolphin/Munster), S O’Brien (Clontarf/Leinster), E Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster), M Ross (Clontarf/Leinster), D Ryan (Shannon/Munster), J Sexton (St.Mary’s College/Leinster), P Stringer (Shannon/Munster), D Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster),* A Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster), D Touhy (Ballymena/Ulster),* D Wallace (Garryowen/Munster), P Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster), B Wilkinson (Galwegians/Connacht). * * denotes uncapped player.