Five Ulster players named in Ireland Men’s 2021 Guinness Six Nations Squad

The Ireland coaching group have selected a squad of 36 players for the upcoming 2021 Guinness Six Nations Championships. Five Ulster players have been included. In the backs, Billy Burns and Stuart McCloskey have been named with Iain Henderson, Rob Herring and Tom O’Toole in the forwards. O’Toole could make his international debut if called upon. Jonathan Sexton captain’s the squad for a second Six Nations campaign and there are two uncapped players named in the squad, Munster’s Craig Casey and Ulster’s Tom O’Toole. Ireland have just two fixtures at the Aviva Stadium in the 2021 Guinness Six Nations hosting France in Round 2 and England on the final weekend of the Championship.  In Round 1 Ireland will take on Wayne Pivac’s Wales at the Principality Stadium.  Ireland’s first two fixtures of the 2021 Championships against Wales and France will both take place on Sunday afternoons. Ireland’s third round fixture is at the Stadio Olimpico against Italy and in the penultimate round Ireland face Scotland. Ireland Head Coach Andy Farrell, commented, “Since the Autumn international window the club season has had a good few disruptions and the cancellation of the European fixtures means there have been less opportunities for players to show form or to return from injury and get some minutes under their belts. Tadhg (Furlong) hasn’t played in quite a while but he is ready to join the group. Unfortunately Jacob (Stockdale) will not be available to us.” All Ireland games will be televised on ITV (v France, Italy & England) and BBC (v Wales & Scotland) in Northern Ireland, and on Virgin in the Republic of Ireland. Ireland Squad 2021 Guinness 6 Nations Championships  Backs (17) Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 30 caps Billy Burns (Ulster) 3 caps Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD) 11 caps Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) uncapped Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 24 caps Shane Daly (Munster/Cork Con) 1 cap Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) 88 caps Chris Farrell (Munster/Young Munster) 14 caps Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 5 caps Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 47 caps Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 6 caps Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 24 caps James Lowe (Leinster) 2 caps Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor) 4 caps Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 87 caps Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 30 caps Jonathan Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 95 caps CAPTAIN   Forwards (19) Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 17 caps Will Connors (Leinster/UCD) 5 caps Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 7 caps Ultan Dillane (Connacht/Corinthians) 17 caps Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 25 caps Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 104 caps Dave Heffernan (Connacht/Buccaneers) 5 caps Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 58 caps Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 16 caps Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 6 caps Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 39 caps Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 73 caps Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Banbridge) uncapped Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 32 caps Quinn Roux (Connacht/Galwegians) 16 caps Rhys Ruddock (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 26 caps James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 32 caps CJ Stander (Munster/Shannon) 46 caps Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 28 caps   Ireland 2021 Guinness Six Nations Fixtures Wales v IRELAND Principality Stadium, Cardiff Sunday 7^th February, KO 15.00 BBC / VIRGIN   IRELAND v France Aviva Stadium, Dublin Sunday 14^th February, KO 15.00 ITV / VIRGIN   Italy v IRELAND Stadio Olimpico, Rome Saturday 27^th February, KO 14.15 ITV / VIRGIN   Scotland v IRELAND BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh Sunday 14^th March, KO 15.00 BBC / VIRGIN   IRELAND v England Aviva Stadium, Dublin Saturday 20^th March, KO 16.45 ITV / VIRGIN