Ireland Autumn Internationals Squad 2018

A week after a momentous win against New Zealand, Ireland have made 14 changes. Garry Ringrose is the only man to keep his spot with Sammy Arnold set to make his debut off the bench.

Will Addison, Stuart McCloskey and Darren Sweetnam will earn only their third caps but, as Schmidt says below, the wholesale changes were planned ahead of schedule;

“This was always part of the plan to make the changes, the two games book-ended the series and it’s a chance to look at all of the 43 players across the four matches,”

Ireland team to face USA in the Autumn Internationals – 24th November

Will Addison; Andrew Conway, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Darren Sweetnam; Joey Carbery, John Cooney; Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, Finlay Bealham; Tadhg Beirne, Iain Henderson; Rhys Ruddock, Jordi Murphy, Jack Conan.

Replacements: Rob Herring, Cian Healy, John Ryan, Quinn Roux, Josh van der Flier, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Sam Arnold

Ireland team to face New Zealand in the Autumn Internationals – 17th November

Rob Kearney; Keith Earls, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Johnny Sexton, Kieran Marmion; Cian Healy, Rory Best (capt), Tadhg Furlong; Devin Toner, James Ryan; Peter O’Mahony, Dan Leavy, CJ Stander.

Replacements: Sean Cronin, Jack McGrath, Andrew Porter, Iain Henderson, Josh van der Flier, Luke McGrath, Joey Carbery, Jordan Larmour.

Ireland team to face Argentina in the Autumn Internationals – 10th November 

Jordan Larmour, Keith Earls, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale, Jonathan Sexton, Kieran Marmion; Cian Healy, Rory Best, Tadhg Furlong; Iain Henderson, James Ryan; Peter O’Mahony, Sean O’Brien, CJ Stander

Replacements: Sean Cronin, Jack McGrath, Andrew Porter, Devin Toner, Dan Leavy, Luke McGrath, Joey Carbery, Andrew Conway.

Ireland team to face Italy in the Autumn Internationals – 3rd November 

Jordan Larmour, Andrew Conway, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale, Joey Carbery, Luke McGrath, Jack McGrath, Niall Scannell, Andrew Porter, Tadhg Beirne, Quinn Roux, Rhys Ruddock (captain), Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan

Conor Murray is an injury absentee from Ireland‘s 2018 Autumn Internationals squad due to a neck injury that has kept him sidelined for four months or so. His last match was the final Ireland Summer Tour match against Australia.

A huge loss, Murray played a pivotal role in the defeat of New Zealand at Soldier Field in 2016, and his absence in the rematch on November 17th will be felt.

Huge Loss: Murray is absent from the squad due to a neck injury (Getty Images)

In other news, there are three uncapped players in the squad in the form of Ross Byrne, Will Addison and Murray’s Munster teammate Sam Arnold.

Joe Schmidt said; “The upcoming Guinness Series offers an exciting opportunity for the squad but will also be very challenging. We are certainly looking forward to getting back to a packed Aviva Stadium with the fantastic support that we get there.”

“As always there have been a number of close calls in selection, meaning that some very good players have missed out in this particular window,”

Ireland Autumn Internationals Squad

FORWARDS: Cian Healy (Leinster), Jack McGrath (Leinster), Dave Kilcoyne (Munster), Niall Scannell (Munster), Rory Best (capt, Ulster), Seán Cronin (Leinster), Rob Herring (Ulster),Tadhg Furlong (Leinster), Andrew Porter (Leinster), John Ryan (Munster), Finlay Bealham (Connacht), James Ryan (Leinster), Iain Henderson (Ulster), Devin Toner (Leinster), Quinn Roux (Connacht), Tadhg Beirne (Munster), Peter O’Mahony (Munster), Rhys Ruddock (Leinster), Sean O’Brien (Leinster), Dan Leavy (Leinster), Jack Conan (Leinster), CJ Stander (Munster), Josh van der Flier (Leinster), Jordi Murphy (Ulster).

BACKS: Rob Kearney (Leinster), Will Addison (Ulster), Andrew Conway (Munster), Darren Sweetnam (Munster), Keith Earls (Munster), Jordan Larmour (Leinster), Jacob Stockdale (Ulster), Robbie Henshaw (Leinster), Garry Ringrose (Leinster), Bundee Aki (Connacht), Sam Arnold (Munster), Stuart McCloskey (Ulster), Johnny Sexton (Leinster), Ross Byrne (Leinster), Joey Carbery (Munster), Kieran Marmion (Connacht), John Cooney (Ulster), Luke McGrath (Leinster)

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