Peter O'Mahony named captain as Andy Farrell announces Ireland Six Nations squad

Farrell has brought some fresh faces into the fold with some stalwarts to balance it out. 

Ireland's Peter O'Mahony applauds the fans after the Guinness Six Nations match at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff.

Peter O’Mahony will captain Ireland for the 2024 Guinness Men’s Six Nations as the Grand Slam winners defend their title in the first Test window after the retirement of Johnny Sexton.

Head coach Andy Farrell named a 34-player squad for the championship, which begins against France on Friday, February 2 in Marseille with the post-Sexton era leaving O’Mahony’s Munster team-mate Jack Crowley as the most experienced of three fly-halves selected.

Crowley, coming off a man of the match performance in Munster’s Champions Cup pool win at Toulon last Saturday, was Sexton’s regular replacement during last autumn’s World Cup campaign which took his cap tally to nine Tests and with fellow tournament squad number 10 Ross Byrne ruled out with injury, Farrell has called up Leinster duo Harry Byrne (two caps) and Ciaran Frawley (one cap) to cover the position.

Another Leinster 10, the uncapped Sam Prendergast, is one of three additional players alongside Munster tighthead prop Oli Jager, and lock/flanker Tom Ahern, who will travel with the squad to their warm-weather training camp next Wednesday at Quinta do Lago on Portugal’s Algarve coast.

O’Mahony, who has captained Ireland on 10 previous occasions in a 101-cap international career, returned from an eight-week shoulder injury lay-off at Toulon having not played since facing the Stormers in the URC on his return from World Cup duty. He has since stepped down from the Munster captaincy.

Ireland’s Caelan Doris v New Zealand.

Fellow contenders for Ireland skipper James Ryan, Caelan Doris, Garry Ringrose, Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong, all feature in an experienced squad named by Farrell which welcomes back 125-cap loosehead prop Cian Healy, who missed the World Cup through injury, while there are also places for hooker Tom Stewart, wings Calvin Nash and Jacob Stockdale, all of whom were cut from the pre-World Cup training squad last summer.

Back rowers Gavin Coombes and Cian Prendergast, lock Kieran Treadwell, and scrum-half Caolin Blade are once again omitted having missed out of last autumn’s campaign.

Wings Mack Hansen and Jimmy O’Brien, loosehead prop Dave Kilcoyne and hooker Rob Herring all miss out alongside Ross Byrne through injury having featured in the World Cup with Keith Earls having retired following the tournament.

“The forthcoming Men’s Guinness Six Nations presents an opportunity for us to grow and develop,” Farrell said. “The Six Nations is one of the biggest stages in world rugby and this year’s competition will be keenly fought.

“I am pleased with the quality of performances by the extended group over the last number of weeks and believe that the squad is in good shape. I would like to congratulate all those who have been selected, especially those who are at the beginning of their international journeys. It doesn’t get much tougher than France away in the opening weekend, but it is a challenge that we will approach in a positive frame of mind.” 

Ireland Squad – Guinness Men’s Six Nations 2024:

Forwards - Ryan Baird (Leinster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht), Tadhg Beirne (Munster), Jack Conan (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Ronan Kelleher (Leinster), Jeremy Loughman (Munster), Joe McCarthy (Leinster), Peter O’Mahony (Munster, captain), Tom O’Toole (Ulster), Andrew Porter (Leinster), James Ryan (Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Leinster), Tom Stewart (Ulster), Nick Timoney (Ulster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster).

Backs - Bundee Aki (Connacht), Harry Byrne (Leinster), Craig Casey (Munster), Jack Crowley (Munster), Ciaran Frawley (Leinster), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster) Hugo Keenan (Leinster), Jordan Larmour (Leinster), James Lowe (Leinster), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster), Conor Murray (Munster), Calvin Nash (Munster), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Jacob Stockdale (Ulster).

Training Panellists - Oli Jager (Munster), Thomas Ahern (Shannon/Munster), Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster).