Ireland's men play their first game on home soil since June 2012 this weekend as they take on Wales in a pair of international ties at Belfield with Craig Fulton casting his eye over a much-changed squad.

Nine players have been brought in with five stepping out from the panel that played in the Champions Challenge I in Malaysia in May following an extensive training group got together last weekend.

Experienced players like Conor Harte, Mikie Watt, Mitch Darling, Peter Caruth, Shane O’Donoghue and Stu Loughrey are back in the panel having missed the CC1 with a mixture of injury and exam issues.

Following an ankle injury, Stephen Cole - who played in last August's European championships - and goalkeeper Stephen West are also back in the panel, taking the place of David Harte, Stephen Dowds, Eugene Magee, Philip Brown and Richie Shaw in this latest selection for games on Saturday and Sunday.

It is coach Craig Fulton’s first full selection in his own right having admitted that he had precious little time to put together his panel prior to CC1 which started just two weeks after he had taken up office.

The following weekend, Ireland will play host to England in a two-test series before travelling to the Investec London Cup where his side will meet South Africa, Scotland and England at the Olympic Park.

Darren Smith's Irish women's team, meanwhile, are playing in Mori, Italy in a Three Nations tournament that gets underway today. Aine Connery's first inclusion for 15 months is the headline while Hannah Matthews is likely to make her debut.

Nicci Daly and Emma Gray return to the squad while Emily Beatty, Chloe Brown, Shirley McCay, Ayeisha McFerran and Katie Mullan are withdrawn from the side that lost their series to Scotland last weekend.