Rugby: Seven Ulster players in Ireland squad for Autumn internationals

Ireland Head Coach Andy Farrell has named a 35-player squad for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series at the Aviva Stadium.

Caelan Doris will captain the squad, having led Ireland in the Six Nations victory over Italy last February and in the Second Test defeat of South Africa in July.

Farrell has included two uncapped players in his squad for November’s four-match series against New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia.

Uncapped duo, Ulster's Cormac Izuchukwu and Leinster's Sam Prendergast, who both featured for Emerging Ireland in Bloemfontein last month and were also part of Farrell’s Summer Tour squad to South Africa, will be hoping to earn their debut caps in November.

Izuchukwu is joined in the squad by provincial team-mates Iain Henderson, Tom O'Toole, Nick Timoney, Stuart McCloskey and Jacob Stockdale, while Rob Herring is included at hooker, despite having yet to feature for Richie Murphy's side.

Additionally, Farrell has included five uncapped players – Thomas Clarkson, Alex Kendellen, Shayne Bolton, Jack Boyle and Gus McCarthy – in the squad as Training Panellists to increase their exposure to the National Team environment.

Peter O’Mahony is included in the extended panel and will continue his rehabilitation with Munster next week as he builds towards a return to action over the coming weeks.

The Ireland squad will assemble at the IRFU High Performance Centre on Monday, before departing for a warm-weather training camp in Portugal in preparation for the opening game of the Autumn Nations Series against New Zealand on Friday, 8 November (Kick-off 8.10pm).

Farrell’s side will then host Argentina at Aviva Stadium on Friday, 15 November (Kick-off 8.10pm) and go head-to-head with Fiji on Saturday, 23 November (Kick-off 3.10pm), before concluding the campaign against Australia for Irish Rugby’s 150th Anniversary Test on Saturday, 30 November (Kick-off 3.10pm).

Forwards (19): Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster)(22), Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht)(42), Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster)(52), Caelan Doris (St Mary’s College/Leinster)(43)(Captain), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster)(78), Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)(131), Dave Heffernan (Buccaneers/Connacht)(7), Iain Henderson (Academy/Ulster)(81), Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(40), Cormac Izuchukwu (Ballynahinch/Ulster)*, Rónan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster)(33), Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster)(12), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster)(107), Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster)(13), Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster)(66), Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht)(3), James Ryan (UCD/Leinster)(64),Nick Timoney (Banbridge/Ulster)(3), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster)(64)

Backs (16):Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht)(57), Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster)(15), Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster)(16), Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster)(6), Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)(35), Mack Hansen (Corinthians/Connacht)(21), Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster)(74), Hugo Keenan (UCD/Leinster)(39), James Lowe (Leinster)(33), Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster)(18), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)(118), Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster)(8), Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)(2), Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)*, Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster)(60), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster)(37)

Training Panellists (5): Thomas Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster), Alex Kendellen (UCC/Munster), Shayne Bolton (Connacht), Jack Boyle (UCD/Leinster), Gus McCarthy (UCD/Leinster)*

• denotes uncapped player