Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has named an extended squad of 36 players to prepare for Sunday's Six Nations Championship game against England at Twickenham (3.0).
Farrell has recalled the 13 players he released to the provinces last week so that they could get game time in Guinness Pro14 fixtures over the weekend. Connacht hooker Dave Heffernan and Leinster flanker Will Connors won respective man-of-the-match awards in their teams’ wins over the Cardiff Blues and the Cheetahs respectively.
Centre Chris Farrell and flanker Jack O’Donoghue played 80-minutes in Munster’s 68-3 victory over the Southern Kings. Heffernan was a try scorer in his 61 minutes on the pitch while Ultan Dillane was on for the duration of Connacht’s 29-0 win against the Blues at the Sportsground.
Connors (80 mins) grabbed a brace of tries for Leinster in a 36-12 win over the Cheetahs with Dave Kearney (59), Luke McGrath (63), Ronan Kelleher (62) and Deegan (80), all starting at the RDS.
Stuart McCloskey (80), Billy Burns (52), Jack McGrath (40) and Tom O’Toole (40) all featured in Ulster’s defeat to the Ospreys. The remaining 23 players took part in a two-day camp in Cork last week under the auspices of the Irish coaching group. The team to face England will be announced on Wednesday.
Ireland squad to face England
Backs: Will Addison (Enniskillen/Ulster) 4 caps, Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 25 caps, Billy Burns (Ulster) 0 caps, Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster) 5 caps, Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 20 caps, John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster) 10 caps, Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 83 caps, Chris Farrell (Young Munster/Munster) 9 caps, Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 42 caps, Dave Kearney (Lansdowne/Leinster) 19 caps, Jordan Larmour (St Mary's College/Leinster) 23 caps, Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster) 3 caps, Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) 19 caps, Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 80 caps, Jonathan Sexton (St Marys College/Leinster) 90 caps (Capt), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 27 caps
Forwards: Will Connors (UCD/Leinster) 0 caps, Max Deegan (Lansdowne/Leinster) 1 cap, Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht) 14 caps, Caelan Doris (St Mary's College/Leinster) 1 cap, Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 43 caps, Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 97 caps, Dave Heffernan (Buccaneers/Connacht) 1 cap, Iain Henderson (Academy/Ulster) 55 caps, Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 10 caps, Ronan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster) 2 caps, Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 38 caps, Jack McGrath (St Mary's College/Ulster) 56 caps, Jack O'Donoghue (UL Bohemians/Munster) 2 caps, Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 66 caps, Tom O'Toole (Banbridge/Ulster) 0 caps, Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 25 caps, James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 25 caps, CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 40 caps, Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 69 caps, Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 25 caps
