Injury rules O'Connell out of New Zealand tour

Ireland second row Paul O'Connell has been ruled out of the upcoming tour to New Zealand.

O'Connell had been undergoing rehabilitation on a knee injury in London with a view to following the Ireland squad out to New Zealand, but he has failed to progress to the level required to allow him take an active part in the tour.

Connacht forward Mike McCarthy has already been added to the Ireland squad as further cover in the back five area of the forwards.

The full squad of 30 players will arrive in Auckland tomorrow evening.

Ireland Squad (New Zealand Tour 2012 with test matches on June 9, 16 and 23):

Forwards (17):

Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)

Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster)

Declan Fitzpatrick (Dungannon /Ulster)*

Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)

Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)

Chris Henry (Ballymena/Ulster)

Ronan Loughney (Galwegians/Connacht)*

Kevin McLaughlin (St.Mary's College/Leinster)

Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers/Connacht)

Sean O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)

Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)

Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)

Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)

Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)

Mike Sherry (Garryowen/Munster)*

Dan Tuohy (Ballymena /Ulster)

Brett Wilkinson (Galwegians/Connacht)*

Backs (13):

Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)

Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)

Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)

Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)

Paul Marshall (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)*

Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)

Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)

Brian O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster)

Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)

Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)

Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary's College/Leinster)

Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)

Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster)*

*Denotes Uncapped Player