Casey captain as Ireland pick 11 uncapped players

In Ireland’s squad for the games against Georgia and Portugal in July, there are 11 uncapped players, including scrum-half Nathan Doak.

Many hopefuls will now be chosen for the summer series thanks to Andy Farrell’s inclusion of 15 Irish internationals in his British and Irish Lions squad.

In addition to Lions coaches Farrell and Simon Easterby, Paul O’Connell will take over as Ireland’s captain, and Craig Casey, a 26-year-old, will start as the team’s captain for the first time.

Although Tommy O’Brien, Michael Milne, Shayne Bolton, Ben Murphy, and Tom Ahern have all had senior experience, none have ever been capped at that level.

The other potential debutants, Alex Kendellen, Darragh Murray, Paddy McCarthy, Stephen Smyth, and Hugh Gavin, have all been called up after impressing in the Emerging Ireland squad and the United Rugby Championship’s September tour of South Africa.

Jack Crowley and Sam Prendergast will square off for the starting fly-half jersey after losing to the Lions.

The 32-man Irish squad has only two players over the age of 30 compared to prop Finlay Bealham and center Stuart McCloskey, who are the only ones who are older than that.

In the squad are wing Jacob Stockdale, back row Nick Timoney, and prop Tom O’Toole, hooker Tom Stewart, and versatile forward Cormac Izuchukwu.

Although James McNabney, Jude Postlethwaite, and Zac Ward, the Ulster trio’s trainers, Rob Herring and second row Iain Henderson, who have recently recovered from injury, were not included in the panellists.

O’Connell, who won 108 Irish caps as a player, claimed that the tour “offers an opportunity” for underclassmen to impress the coaching staff.

For what will be a trip into relatively unexplored territory this July, he said, “I think we have a strong combination of youth and experience.”

“It’s important that everyone understands the challenge that lies ahead of them because a number of players have recently been very close to selection.”

There is a great opportunity for players to step up and impress, according to the coach, “every moment on the training field and throughout the two-match series will count.”

O’Connell added that Georgia has made “significant progress” in recent years, and he anticipates a difficult test from Portugal, which Ireland will encounter for the first time.

He added that Casey’s selection as the tour’s captain was justified by scrum-half.

He is a real leader with a charismatic personality, O’Connell continued, “He is a very special person.

Backs: Shayne Bolton (Connacht), Craig Casey (Munster), Jack Crowley (Munster), Nathan Doak (Ulster), Hugh Gavin (Connacht), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster), Calvin Nash (Munster), Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster), Tommy O’Brien (Leinster), Jamie Osborne (Leinster), Sam Prendergast (Leinster), and Jacob Stockdale (Ulster).

Panelists for training are Zac Ward (Ulster), Jude Postlethwaite (Ulster), and James McNabney (Ulster).

Fixtures

Georgia vs. Ireland on Saturday, July 5 at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium in Tbilisi (kick off at 18:00 BST).