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Ulster captain Iain Henderson has been left out of Ireland’s 37-strong squad for the Six Nations.

The second row, 33, made his Ireland debut in 2012 and has won 85 caps, including five Six Nations titles and two Grand Slams.

Leinster prop Andrew Porter will miss the start of the Six Nations with a calf injury while Robbie Henshaw, Calvin Nash, Jimmy O’Brien are also sidelined.

Ulster forward Cormac Izuchukwu is also unavailable for selection, while wing Mack Hansen has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a foot injury.

Munster back row Edwin Edogbo and Ulster scrum-half Nathan Doak are the two uncapped players in Andy Farrell’s squad.

Hugo Keenan has been named despite not featuring for Leinster or Ireland since the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia last summer.

There is no place for former Ireland Rugby Sevens stars Zac Ward and JJ Kenny, who have impressed on the wing for Ulster and Leinster respectively but have not been selected by Farrell.

Ireland open their Six Nations campaign against holders France in Paris on Thursday, 5 February.

Farrell’s side then host Italy and visit England before two final matches in Dublin with Wales and Scotland.

Ireland won the Triple Crown in 2025 but finished third in the table behind France and England.

“I believe that we have a talented and committed group who have the aptitude and drive to bring success to Ireland over the coming weeks.

“The Six Nations is an incredible tournament which brings out the best in players, and I have no doubt that these fixtures will be keenly contested once more.”

Henderson, 33, returned on New Year’s Day from a back injury that had kept him out since November.

Forwards: Tom Ahern (Munster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht), Tadhg Beirne (Munster), Jack Boyle (Leinster), Thomas Clarkson (Leinster), Jack Conan (Leinster), Caelan Doris (Leinster) captain, Edwin Edogbo (Munster), Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Ronan Kelleher (Leinster), Jeremy Loughman (Munster), Joe McCarthy (Leinster), Michael Milne (Munster), Tom O’Toole (Ulster), Cian Prendergast (Connacht), James Ryan (Leinster), Dan Sheehan (Leinster), Tom Stewart (Ulster), Nick Timoney (Ulster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster).

Before a potentially crucial opening round match against Ireland on February 5, France’s all-time top try-scorer Damian Penaud is omitted from the defending champions’ Six Nations squad.

The 29-year-old wing started all three of France’s autumn internationals in November and has 40 tries in 59 appearances for his country.

However, this season, his strike rate has decreased. In 16 games for the club and nation so far, Penaud has attempted eight tries, compared to 27 in 2024 and 25.

With Henry Pollock’s late kick-in in a recent Bordeaux-Begles’ Champions Cup win being the most recent piece of evidence against him, his defense has also received criticism.

In addition to Antoine Dupont’s injury at last year’s Six Nations, veteran center Gael Fickou and back row Gregory Alldritt, who captained the team at the time, are one of several prominent players being selected by coach Fabien Galthie.

Galthie has called up a number of young centers in Fickou’s absence, led by Toulouse’s much-anticipated 20-year-old Kalvin Gourgues, who won his first cap against Australia in November.

Aaron Grandider-Nkanang, Pau’s London-born wing, is one of the 17 backs chosen for having 10 caps or less. The 25-year-old won Olympic Sevens gold alongside Dupont at Paris 2024, but he has yet to play for France in the 15-a-side competition.

Romain Ntamack is expected to miss the first two matches of France’s campaign while he is sidelined with a back injury, but Bordeaux-Begles’ in-form Mathieu Jalibert appears to be leading the charge at fly-half.

After recovering from knee ligament damage sustained at the previous year’s tournament, Talismanic scrumhalf Dupont is in line to play again.

Harry Brook explained his actions from England’s previous one-day international the day before the start of an England one-day international.

Nearly 7, 000 miles away in Colombo, the ripples of Brook’s night out in Wellington, when he was “clocked” by a nightclub bouncer, werehed up.

The horrific Ashes series, an absolute masterpiece of a mess, was awaited between the white-ball tours of Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Throwbacks, terrible shots, scattergun bowling, and an endless list of regrets are just a few examples.

Before England even moved to Australia, Brook’s misdemeanour typified the slapdash approach to regaining the urn.

At the conclusion of the fifth Test, it was only revealed by a Telegraph article. Would Brook have been addressing inquiries in a hotel room with a view of the Indian Ocean without that?

On the one hand, Brook’s position as a front-runner is perfectly acceptable. Past England skippers have had to address far more serious issues than the negative effects of a night out. He is the white-ball captain and vice-captain.

On the other hand, the hierarchy of English cricket’s silence is audible.

An hour before the Brook story broke, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) CEO Richard Gould released his statement regarding a “review” of the Ashes. Brendon McCullum, head coach, stated earlier that his players occasionally have “a couple of beers.”

Following the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, director of cricket Rob Key last addressed to the media, revealing that Brook and Jacob Bethell had been informed of a separate incident in Wellington when they were filmed drinking by a member of the audience that evening.

Questions remain despite the ground Brook covered on Wednesday.

Why did he try to enter a club the night before a one-day international by himself? Why did he wait to turn himself in to England management until the following day, halfway through the game?

Why did England permit the players to participate in the off-field activities in Australia, including the boozy trip to Noosa, when they were fully aware of the Brook incident?

What has changed in Sri Lanka that would require a midnight curfew? More than two months prior, England was aware of the Brook incident. Is the public informed, and why is there now a curfew?

The Brook incident, taken separately, probably has little to do with Key and McCullum’s futures. When it was believed that Key and McCullum would have the opportunity to stay on if they could alter the England setup, Gould and chairman Richard Thompson were already aware as the Ashes scandal was taking shape.

These changes have already begun to take effect as the Ashes review is ongoing and Key appears to be staying.

Carl Hopkinson’s short-term appointment as fielding coach for the T20s in Sri Lanka and the subsequent World Cup is another. At the same time as McCullum added the white-ball teams to his Test duties, Hopkinson left the England set-up at the end of 2024.

Troy Cooley’s return to the England set-up as the nation’s pace-bowling leader has been anticipated for some time, but the Australian won’t play for the first team exclusively. A backroom staff that McCullum had previously trimmed down might benefit from a dedicated pace coach for the senior side.

McCullum lieutenants Jeetan Patel and Marcus Trescothick could face scrutiny as assistant coaches. In county cricket, selection may once again be put a greater emphasis on performances.

His future will depend on how he accepts these changes. The New Zealander has a contract until the 2027 World Cup, but he stated in the wake of the final Ashes Test in Sydney that he wants to stay despite a restriction.

Will McCullum still have the same sense of control as him? When he took over the Test team in 2022, he was shocked to learn that the England nutritionist had forbidden the players from eating a bacon sandwich.

McCullum saved the bacon butty in an effort to give the players more power. He and his men are now informed of their hotel’s return time.

The mood would be improved by the forthcoming results. To advance their ranking, England must win the three one-day encounters with Sri Lanka in order to be guaranteed a spot in the 2027 World Cup.

Additionally, they have won the T20 World Cup twice, with the next edition set to start next month. Possibly England’s best format right now, perhaps, is the shortest format. Even so, they made it to the T20 World Cup’s semifinals, but head coach Matthew Mott’s job was not saved.

If McCullum is being squelched by decisions made by the players, it might be questioned whether the ECB top brass are considering them.

Even though their conversations diverged during the Ashes series, Test captain Ben Stokes is undoubtedly the most powerful player in English cricket.

Given his versatility across formats, Brook is almost as significant. No one has played for England in more matches since Brook’s Test debut in 2022, and it’s very likely that he will be the only one to do so this winter.

Despite the misdemeanour, the 26-year-old has turned down franchise riches to join the national team and is still most likely to be the next Test captain.

McCullum was referred to as Brook’s best coach on Wednesday.

Perhaps the issue is there. McCullum’s players are well-known for the freedom he promotes both on and off the field. These freedoms have now been refuted as a contributing factor to England’s poor performance.

McCullum was in charge of Kolkata Knight Riders, an Indian Premier League team, a year before taking over the England job. He revealed one of his philosophies after being frustrated by what he thought his batters had no idea how intent they were.

According to a proverb that I’ve used throughout my career, “change the man if you can’t change a man,” McCullum said.

McCullum has had no ability to alter for other men during his time with England.

Jack Leach and James Anderson couldn’t be changed into tall right-armers, and neither could they be. Ollie Robinson couldn’t keep himself in the park, and Ben Foakes couldn’t become the tail-marshalling number seven.

McCullum now has to respond to his own query.

Cameron Norrie was unable to escape Great Britain at the Australian Open, but his second-round performance earned him respectable support in the “top three” of his career.

The British number two won 6-1 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 7-6 (7-5) in four sets when Emilio Nava defeated the American number one.

After Emma Raducanu lost to Austria’s Anastasia Potapova and Arthur Fery was outclassed by Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Wednesday, he is officially the last British singles player standing, as has been the case in the previous three Grand Slams.

The Brits always draw in fans at Melbourne Park, but the crowd’s three hours and 20 minutes on the court gave the 26th seed an especially “amazing atmosphere.”

But where did Norrie’s career stand?

He remarked, “The Australian Open had the best atmosphere.”

Where is the after-party, you ask? We must continue our journey, going straight to the Crown Casino and Entertainment Resort in Melbourne.

Norrie rallied to win the first two sets in less than an hour and a half before Nava staged a partial comeback by winning the third set.

Then, with Norrie three points clear of victory, the inconveniently timed rain that had almost an hour of play halted the fourth set to a halt in a fourth-set tie-break.

When I came out afterwards, Norrie said, “I was actually laughing to myself and felt so relaxed.”

“The fans had a tough time,” he said. There was a lot of atmosphere-building going on, which was completely overwhelming. It was unfortunate that the game couldn’t have ended there with all the atmosphere.

The world number 27 added that at times it seemed like the crowd was “on top of the court” and that “someone was getting fired up for me” wherever they were.

Fans chanting his name also interrupted his post-game on-court interview, so it’s fair to say he has won the hearts of the locals.

Next up for her is German third-seeded Alexander Zverev, who defeated Frenchman Alexandre Muller in four sets and has already won six of their matches, including a Melbourne decide-set tie-break.

“I’m looking forward to another crack at him,” he declared.

Top-10 men’s singles champions Carlos Alcaraz, Alex de Minaur, and Alexander Bublik all advanced on Wednesday.

German Yannick Hanfmann defeated Spanish No. 1 Alcaraz in straight sets to claim the title.

German third seed Zverev defeated Frenchman Alexandre Muller in four sets, winning 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, while Australian hope De Minaur came back strong with a 6-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Hamad Medjedovic from Serbia.

To meet Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry, who ended British qualifier Arthur Fery’s run, Kazakh 10th seed Bublik defeated Hungarian Marton Fucsovics 7-5, 6-4, 7-5.

With a straight-set victory over the top men’s doubles players in Great Britain, Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool clinched their title bid.

Joran Vliegen and Ariel Behar, both from Uruguay, defeated 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 to claim the year-end world number one men’s doubles ranking. Last year, Cash and Glasspool became the first all-British pair to do so.