Simon Easterby unveils tried, tested, and battle-hardened Ireland squad for Six Nations

PLANE SAILING: Simon Easterby has left no margin for error in his bid to continue Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations dominance into a third successive year after unveiling a tried and tested, battle-hardened squad for the start of next month’s championship.

Simon Easterby has left no margin for error in his bid to continue Ireland’s Guinness Six Nations dominance into a third successive year after unveiling a tried and tested, battle-hardened squad for the start of next month’s championship.

A 36-player panel that features 17 players who will be 30 or over when the championship kicks off against England on February 1, 10 with more than 50 caps, including three Test centurions, and four more who could reach the half-century milestone in the next five games is perhaps more telling than the increasing reliance on players from Leinster.

Still if we are counting provincial representation, 23 players from the blue province, five apiece from Connacht and Munster and just three from Ulster suggests an unequal distribution of resources in favour of the demographically dominant quarter of the island.

Regardless, local affiliations will be disregarded if Caelan Doris can become the latest national captain to lift the Six Nations trophy on St Patrick’s weekend in Rome 58 days from now and interim head coach Easterby has not been tempted to shake things up with any radical thinking in pursuit of a historic first championship three-in-a-row since Italy joined the party in 2000.

The returns of hooker Dan Sheehan and wing James Lowe from extended absences for Leinster this Saturday at home to Bath in the final round of Champions Cup pool action, as well as the hoped-for comeback of Peter O’Mahony for Munster at Northampton on the same day there are undoubted boosts for Ireland ahead of next week’s warm-weather training camp in Portugal.

Jack Conan, Ciaran Frawley, Tadhg Furlong, Ian Henderson, Conor Murray and Jimmy O’Brien have also passed fit following spells on the sidelines and the old guard remain the best hope of warding off the perennial challenges of the English and France, who will visit Aviva Stadium in rounds one and four respectively, as well as a buoyant once more Scotland, whom Ireland must journey to in Edinburgh for round two on February 9.

With head coach Andy Farrell on sabbatical with the British & Irish Lions ahead of the summer tour to Australia, defence coach Easterby assumes ownership of an Ireland squad for the first time but the presence of so many familiar faces affords him some comfort and reliability as he embarks on his maiden campaign at the helm.

There is one uncapped player among the 36 named on Wednesday, Leinster prop Jack Boyle in the absence for the first two rounds of suspended Ulsterman Tom O’Toole and Easterby chose to highlight the fresher resources in his playing group as he acknowledged the presences of a quartet of young men who cut their teeth at Test level last November as well as the additional inclusion of four uncapped development players outside of the main body of the squad – back-rower James McNabney, scrum-half Ben Murphy, and centres Cathal Forde and Hugh Cooney.

“One of the highlights from the recent Autumn Nations Series was the emergence of a number of new internationals in Thomas Clarkson, Cormac Izuchukwu, Gus McCarthy and Sam Prendergast,” the interim boss said.

“We are also delighted to welcome back a number of players who were unavailable for the recent Autumn Nations Series and their return will further boost competition levels across the panel.

“While there is a good sense of continuity in selection, having those players back massively increases our competitiveness. It’s also a great opportunity for three young Development Players – James, Ben and Cathal – to continue their recent good run of form for their Provinces and continue their development.

“The thing about the Six Nations is that you have to hit the ground running and there’s no room for building or easing your way into competition. Every match counts and facing England at home in the first round sharpens everyone’s mind to what will be a big task ahead.”

Successful comebacks this Saturday for hooker Sheehan and left wing Lowe, both first-choice players in their positions will be crucial for a successful opening round as Ireland seek payback for a Twickenham defeat last March which denied Farrell back-to-back Grand Slams.

Both are in line to return for Leinster against Bath at Aviva Stadium with Sheehan set for a seasonal debut following the ACL injury he sustained last July in the first Test against the Springboks in Pretoria. 

Lowe’s last game was the Autumn Nations Series win over Australia in November and he is due to return from a calf injury for his first game for Leinster since October as they seek to earn top seeding by finishing their pool campaign unbeaten.

IRELAND 2025 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS SQUAD

Forwards (21): R Baird (Dublin University/Leinster), F Bealham (Corinthians/Connacht), T Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster), J Boyle (UCD/Leinster), T Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster), J Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster), C Doris (St Mary’s College/Leinster) – Captain, T Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), C Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), I Henderson (Academy/Ulster), R Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster), C Izuchukwu (Ballynahinch/Ulster), R Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster), G McCarthy (UCD/Leinster), J McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster), P O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster), A Porter (UCD/Leinster), C Prendergast (UCD/Connacht), J Ryan (UCD/Leinster), D Sheehan (Lansdowne/Leinster), J van der Flier (UCD/Leinster).

Backs (15): B Aki (Galwegians/Connacht), C Blade (Galwegians/Connacht), J Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster), C Frawley (UCD/Leinster), J Gibson-Park (Leinster), M Hansen (Corinthians/Connacht), R Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster), H Keenan (UCD/Leinster), J Lowe (Leinster), C Murray (Garryowen/Munster), C Nash (Young Munster/Munster), J O’Brien (Naas/Leinster), J Osborne (Naas/Leinster), S Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster), G Ringrose (UCD/Leinster).

Development Players (4): Hugh Cooney (Clontarf/Leinster), Cathal Forde (Corinthians/Connacht), James McNabney (Ballymena/Ulster), Ben Murphy (Clontarf/Connacht).