Seven Ulster players named in Ireland Men’s squad for Autumn Nations Series

Andy Farrell has named a 38 strong squad for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series fixtures at the Aviva Stadium. Seven Ulster players – Robert Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Iain Henderson, Rob Herring, Tom O’Toole and Nick Timoney – have been selected. Ireland face Japan on Saturday 6th November before hosting New Zealand a week later on Saturday 13th. The final game in the series sees Mario Ledesma’s Argentina line out at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday 21st November. The Aviva Stadium will be at full capacity for these three games. Johnny Sexton who has been capped 99 times for his country will lead the squad during this international window. Six of Ireland’s players who toured with the British and Irish Lions during the summer - Bundee Aki, Tadhg Beirne, Jack Conan, Tadgh Furlong, Iain Henderson and Conor Murray are included as is Ronan Kelleher who joined the squad in South Africa. Six of the players who won their first caps during the Vodafone Summer Series in July have been included in the squad – Robert Baloucoune, Harry Byrne, Gavin Coombes, James Hume, Tom O’Toole and Nick Timoney. There are two uncapped players named Leinster duo Dan Sheehan and Ciaran Frawley while Munster’s Simon Zebo is named in an Ireland squad for the first time since June 2017. Robbie Henshaw will continue his rehabilitation programme under the supervision of the Ireland medical team. Thomas Ahern (Munster) and Jamie Osbourne (Leinster) will train with the squad as development players during this window. Ireland Head Coach Andy Farrell, commented, “It has been a short lead in to this international window but that is the challenge, to get back up to speed quickly and build on the performances from the Six Nations and the Summer Tests. This is the start of an exciting period for the group as we begin to build towards the Rugby World Cup in France. In September we got together and mapped out what was coming up in this window, the exciting fixtures that lay ahead in the next 12 months and beyond that the opportunities to improve as a group over the next five windows we will have together. In a few weeks’ time we will face an exciting and well-coached Japan team who showed in July what a dangerous team they are. New Zealand dominated the Rugby Championship losing just one game while Argentina are battle hardened from playing the southern hemisphere’s Big 3 week in week out over the past two months. It would be fantastic to play in front of a full-house at the Aviva Stadium. We had small crowds back in for the games in July and even that made a huge difference to the team and the atmosphere in the stadium.” Ireland’s Autumn Nations Series fixtures at the Aviva Stadium will be televised on Channel 4 (NI) and RTE (ROI).   Ireland Autumn Nations Series Squad 2021Backs (18) Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 31 caps Robert Baloucoune (Ulster/Enniskillen) 1 cap Harry Byrne (Leinster/Lansdowne) 1 cap Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 24 caps Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 3 caps Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 25 caps Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) 93 caps Ciaran Frawley (Leinster/UCD)* Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 10 caps James Hume (Ulster/Banbridge) 1 cap Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 13 caps Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 30 caps James Lowe (Leinster) 6 caps Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor) 6 caps Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 89 caps Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 34 caps Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 99 caps CAPTAIN Simon Zebo (Munster/Cork Constitution) 35 caps   Forwards (20) Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) 5 caps Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 16 caps Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 22 caps Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 20 caps Gavin Coombes (Munster/Young Munster) 2 caps Ultan Dillane (Connacht/Corinthians) 19 caps Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 9 caps Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 49 caps Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 109 caps Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 63 capsRob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 22 caps Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 13 caps Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 45 caps Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 76 caps Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 1 cap Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 37 caps James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 37 caps Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne)* Nick Timoney (Ulster/Banbridge) 1 cap Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 32 caps   *denotes uncapped playerDevelopment Players Thomas Ahern (Munster/Shannon) Jamie Osborne (Leinster/Naas)   Ireland 2021/22 FixturesAutumn Nations Series 2021 IRELAND v Japan Aviva Stadium , Saturday 6th November, 2021   IRELAND v New Zealand Aviva Stadium , Saturday 13th November, 2021   IRELAND v Argentina Aviva Stadium , Sunday 21st November, 2021