Kidney announces Ireland squad

Ireland head coach Declan Kidney today unveils his initial squad for this year’s RBS 6 Nations Championship and is expected to confirm Anthony Foley as acting defence coach.

Buoyed by November’s 46-24 win over Argentina, which secured Ireland’s place in the second tier of seeds for the 2015 World Cup draw, Kidney will return to the Aviva Stadium and also name an Ireland Wolfhounds squad that will feature many players with hopes of breaking into the senior squad, some maybe this season.

The Wolfhounds face the England Saxons in Galway on Friday, January 25, and an impressive performance at the Sportsground could well earn promotion to the senior panel ahead of the Six Nations opener against Wales in Cardiff a week later.

Kidney will welcome back captain Brian O’Driscoll, Sean O’Brien and Rob Kearney from the injuries that kept the Leinster players out of the autumn series of Tests, while there should also be a recall for their provincial, Test and Lions team-mate Luke Fitzgerald, who returns to action after nine months on the sidelines with a neck injury.

Ulster hooker Rory Best is also back in harness following a neck injury earlier in the season and Stephen Ferris is harbouring hopes of a return from continuing knee problems but Tommy Bowe (knee) and Paul O’Connell (back) are definitely ruled out, both having recently undergone surgery.

Ronan O’Gara’s participation in the early stages of the Six Nations will not be cleared up until after Kidney names his squads.

If things do not go the veteran fly-half’s way at an ERC disciplinary hearing in Dublin today, O’Gara could miss at least the opening fixture, having been charged with kicking Edinburgh’s Sean Cox during last Sunday’s Heineken Cup pool game at Edinburgh. The low-entry suspension for players found guilty of breaching Law 10.4(c) is four weeks, although this being O’Gara’s first citing in 15 years of professional rugby, that good record may stand to him.

Foley, meanwhile, looks set to reprise his role as acting defence coach, having been drafted into Kidney’s management group last November to assist Les Kiss, who was performing both the attacking and defensive coaching duties since Alan Gaffney stepped down from the defensive role after the 2011 World Cup.