New Ireland faces may have to wait

IRELAND head coach Declan Kidney has added nine new faces to his squad for the opening two RBS 6 Nations matches but the majority of the selection debates for this weekend’s opener with Wales will be contained within his initial 24-man group.

Two weeks after being accused of being overly conservative in his squad selection for the training camp in Limerick, Kidney brought some perspective by bolstering that group to 32 with the pick of the Ireland Wolfhounds squad that fell 23-17 to the England Saxons in Exeter.

Five forwards – the previously capped Dan Tuohy, Chris Henry and Rhys Ruddock as well as the uncapped Brett Wilkinson and Peter O’Mahony — along with backs Denis Hurley and uncapped trio David Kearney, Eoin O’Malley and Simon Zebo have joined 23 of the squad that trained in Limerick last week at the team’s Carton House training base in Kildare.