Winners and losers as Andy Farrell names Ireland squad for South Africa tour

Ireland will play two tests against the Springboks this summer and here Simon Lewis dicusses the main inclusions and omissions.

WINNER: Peter O'Mahony has been named in Andy Farrell's squad. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile

WINNERS 

Peter O’Mahony – while the chatter at the end of the Six Nations might have surrounded the captain’s future in the Ireland back-row with Ryan Baird impressively pushing his claims to the blindside flanker berth and the man himself pondering his longevity beyond this season, O’Mahony has come roaring back to nail down the captaincy for this potentially epic tour.

Sam Prendergast - just 18 games only six starts into his senior career with Leinster, the uncapped 21-year-old fly-half has leap-frogged more senior provincial team-mates into the Irish camp and will be expected to push both Ciaran Frawley and first-choice 10 Jack Crowley hard in the coming weeks.

Cormac Izuchukwu – a storming finish to the URC campaign with Ulster has seen the uncapped lock/flanker earn a deserved place in the touring party, further endorsing the value of Emerging Ireland tours as he becomes the eighth member of the 2022 squad to make the leap to the test set-up.

LOSERS 

Gavin Coombes – the Munster No.8 must be wondering what more he has to do to regain a foothold in the Ireland squad but this latest selection merely adds to the heartbreak having been cut from the 2023 World Cup training squad. Another excellent season with Munster, as both a lock and No.8 as well as an impact replacement, has not moved the dial.

Jeremy Loughman – another unfortunate Munster forward to miss out after an impressive campaign at loosehead prop, this Six Nations squad member looks to have lost out in the pecking order behind Andrew Porter and the veteran Cian Healy to a fourth tighthead in Tom O’Toole.

Both Ulster’s O’Toole and Connacht tighthead Finlay Bealham have played on the loosehead side and their versatility appears to have cost Loughman his place.

The Byrne Brothers – Where now for the Leinster fly-halves Ross and Harry Byrne after their omission by the Ireland management. Ross remains his province’s first-choice 10 and had regained his place in the Test squad since November 2022 while younger brother Harry came off the bench in the recent Six Nations games against Italy and the title-clinching Scotland game.

Yet they have lost out to less-experienced provincial rivals Frawley and Sam Prendergast.