Quinn Roux and Sean Reidy set for South Africa tour
The make-up of his 32-man touring party, which leaves for Cape Town a week on Sunday, contained a number of surprises, including call-ups for uncapped forwards Quinn Roux of Connacht and Ulster back row Sean Reidy.
However, there is no place for fit-again but unplayed Munster captain Peter O’Mahony, who must sit out the tour alongside a host of unavailable players from forwards Sean O’Brien, Cian Healy, Nathan White, and Josh van der Flier to backs Tommy Bowe and Simon Zebo.
Connacht loosehead and Pro12 team of the season pick Denis Buckley might have been in line for a Test debut this summer but he and Munster wing Andrew Conway were also listed by the IRFU yesterday as being unavailable due to injury, while there were also a number of players simply overlooked.
They include Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey and Munster openside Tommy O’Donnell, both of whom featured during the Six Nations campaign, while in-form but uncapped backs Garry Ringrose of Leinster and Connacht wing Matt Healy will also have to wait their turn.
“Touring South Africa will be arduous to say the least, so we’ve attempted to prioritise players who are currently as close to full fitness as possible,” Schmidt said yesterday. “In what is always a difficult balancing act, we’ve taken a long term view with a number of players who need a rest or will benefit from a full pre-season.”
Meanwhile, Ireland’s desire to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup moved into the next stage of the bidding process as governing body World Rugby launched its applicant phase.
Described as a key information-gathering stage on the road to confirmation of the host union by the World Rugby Council in November 2017, Ireland’s bid will be evaluated alongside those of France, Italy and South Africa, all of whom formally expressed an interest to World Rugby 12 months ago.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
