The Ireland XV Coaching Team, led by Head Coach Cullie Tucker, have today named a 28-player squad, sponsored by Vodafone, for the upcoming clash against Spain in Leganés on Saturday, 8 November (Kick-off 5 pm local time/4 pm Irish time). The Ireland XV squad is comprised of Test-capped international players, those on the fringes of National Team selection, as well as young emerging players for the future, and next month’s match in Madrid offers another chance to impress the National Coaching Team.
Ulster hooker Tom Stewart will captain the side, while the six Connacht players included are Sam Ilo, Sean Jansen, Darragh Murray, Shayne Bolton, Cathal Forde, and Ben Murphy.
Tucker, who was part of the Ireland Men’s Coaching Team for the Summer Tour of Georgia and Portugal, will lead the squad as Head Coach and will be assisted by Mossy Lawler (Backs/Attack Coach), Jimmy Duffy (Forwards Coach) and Sean O’Brien (Defence Coach). The match will be played at Estadio Municipal de Butarque.
Ireland XV Squad:
Forwards (16):
Lee Barron (Dublin University/Munster)
James Culhane (UCD/Leinster)
Sam Illo (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Sean Jansen (Connacht)
Diarmuid Mangan (UCD/Leinster)
David McCann (Banbridge/Ulster)
John McKee (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Michael Milne (UCD/Munster)
Darragh Murray (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Evan O’Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster)
Ruadhan Quinn (Old Crescent/Munster)
Alex Soroka (Clontarf/Leinster)
Tom Stewart (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(captain)
Alex Usanov (Clontarf/Leinster)
Scott Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast/Ulster)
Backs (12):
Robert Baloucoune (Enniskillen/Ulster)
Shayne Bolton (Connacht)
Harry Byrne (UCD/Leinster)
Nathan Doak (Banbridge/Ulster)
Cathal Forde (Corinthians/Connacht)
Fintan Gunne (Terenure College/Leinster)
Dan Kelly (Munster)
Michael Lowry (Banbridge/Ulster)
Ben Murphy (Clontarf/Connacht)
Jack Murphy (Clontarf/Ulster)
Jude Postlethwaite (City of Armagh/Ulster)
Zac Ward (Ballynahinch/Ulster).