Zebo and Gilroy back in reckoning for Six Nations opener

Munster wing Simon Zebo has been given the chance to stake a claim for a place in Joe Schmidt’s first RBS 6 Nations campaign after receiving a call-up to the Ireland squad yesterday.

Zebo, 23, and Ulster wing Craig Gilroy, 22, joined up with head coach Schmidt’s extended squad at Carton House yesterday as preparations began in earnest for the Six Nations championship opener at home to Scotland at Aviva Stadium on Sunday, February 2.

Before that, Schmidt will send out a team of Test hopefuls for the Irish Wolfhounds in an A international against England Saxons this Saturday at Gloucester’s Kingsholm before whittling down his squad, currently numbering 46, to 32.

Both Zebo and Gilroy had been asked by the Ireland management to prove their fitness for duty with their provinces at the weekend, as were Richard Strauss, Donnacha Ryan, Roger Wilson, Tommy Bowe and Declan Fitzpatrick.

Munster’s Ryan and Ulster’s Bowe and Fitzpatrick had not recovered from their respective knee, groin and concussion injuries but Strauss returned ahead of schedule off the bench for Leinster last Friday against Ospreys, three months after heart surgery, while Ulster’s Wilson played in Saturday’s Heineken Cup win at Leicester.

Bowe, said Schmidt, could be in the mix for selection for the third game of the championship, against England at Twickenham on February 22.

Only Gilroy, who recovered from a concussion received the previous week in addition to a broken nose, and Zebo got the call, though, as Schmidt boosted his wing cover following a knee injury suffered by Keith Earls in Munster’s resounding win over Edinburgh.

Aside from Earls, the Ireland management reported yesterday that a number of players had checked into Carton House with bumps and bruises following the weekend’s Heineken Cup action.

“Their training workload will be managed over the coming days but none are considered injury concerns,” an IRFU statement read.

Schmidt’s first selection of the international window will be for his A side to face their English counterparts at Kingsholm and the New Zealander suggested he would use the fixture as an opportunity to give game time to players making their way back after injury lay-offs.

“Probably an objective this year is there’s been a number of players returning from injury,” Schmidt said. “Some of them we’ve watched just recently over the last couple of games. Guys like Rory Best got back a little bit early, so did Cian Healy.

“The Wolfhounds was going to be an opportunity for them, we may now change that a little bit. For the younger guys it’s an opportunity to impress and try and force their way in to what will be approximately 32-man squad for next week.

“It will be a little bit of a balancing act to name the Wolfhounds and a little bit of a balancing act to keep the 44 players happy that are coming in.”