Munster's Roman Salanoa added to Ireland's Six Nations squad for Wales clash
STEP UP: Roman Salanoa has been called into the Ireland camp. Picture: INPHO/Ben Brady
Ireland have called in Munster tighthead prop Roman Salanoa to their travelling party for this weekend’s 2023 Guinness Six Nations opening game against Wales in Cardiff.
SIX NATIONS RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 2023
Your home for the latest news, views and analysis of this year's Six Nations Championship from our award winning sports team.
SIX NATIONS RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP 2023
Your home for the latest news, views and analysis of this year's Six Nations Championship from our award winning sports team.
In association with
Andy Farrell’s squad left their warm-weather training camp on Portugal’s Algarve on Thursday afternoon ahead of Saturday’s game at the Principality Stadium having named a team missing injured first-choice tighthead Tadhg Furlong.
Furlong was at the Quinta do Lago camp but has not recovered from a calf injury sustained in early December in time to face the Welsh with Ireland’s head coach handing a first Six Nations start to regular deputy Finlay Bealham. That has brought the squad’s other tighthead Tom O’Toole onto the replacements bench and Salanoa will now join them in Cardiff as extra cover.
The 25-year-old Hawaiian-born former American Football running back joined Munster from Leinster in the summer of 2020 having joined their academy after a stint with the USA under-20 squad. This has been his breakthrough season at Munster with 14 appearances including six starts, one of them in the Champions League home game against Northampton Saints on January 14.
Salanoa earned selection on last autumn’s Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa and an IRFU spokesman said on Thursday the prop was coming into the senior squad for the weekend to get the experience of an away Six Nations match.
