3 Irish caps + 3 baa-baas, we could feel happy after our mitigated season

4 to add for RWC 2023 : TOH, our Farrell, Delahunt and Bealham

MulMan wrote: Not from a Connacht point of view but in general I think Ruddock is very hard done by, I think he has a bit of versatility that would be crucial for a tour with what isn't a huge squad, .

Suppose with Beirne and Henderson being able to play 6 probably went against him
Great player though

Not from a Connacht point of view but in general I think Ruddock is very hard done by, I think he has a bit of versatility that would be crucial for a tour with what isn't a huge squad, can't understand Ryan getting in, there;s a reason he's struggled for starts with Munster, he's not very mobile or active around the field, would have accepted Finlay being left out for Archer, or even if they'd decided to bring 3 LH and gone with Kilcoyne ahead of Buckley, for once though I agree with most calls, surprised to see Cooney and Marmion selected, as I thought Joe would surely go with McGrath, delighted he didn't though, other have also said Roux is lucky to get in, he was giving away a lot of penalties for us of late which surely wouldn't have gone down well with Joe, then again maybe that's proof Joe doesn't bother watching us. A fourth centre would not have gone amiss either, let it be Farrell or Scannell. All in all though a good squad and hope they do the business.

He may be trying to bring over as close a squad to his RWC squad as possible, to see how they gel and give them some exposure to a tour environment ahead of next year. The Lions may not start every game but might be there mainly for leadership etc.

Decadence wrote: Strong squad, I thought he'd leave some Lions at home.

Joe really does like Quinn though, doesn't he?

Was thinking along the same lines in both cases.

With an eye toward RWC 19, I would have definitely considered leaving Best and Sexton at home and maybe 1-3 others.

Don't quite understand J.Ryan over Bealham

It was always going to be a toss up between McGrath, Marmion and Cooney
All 3 playing well for their teams, Marmion has never let Joe down though. While I won't say I'll enjoy Mcgrath not getting picked as I like him as a player, I will enjoy fact many media expected Cooney to come in for Marmion as if there wasn't even a debate to be had

Risky of Joe to bring only 3 centers with both Henshaw and Bundee carrying knocks

Exciting to see what Beirne can offer in Joe's system

That's good news all round, Roux deserves and needs more international experience and can be a really good option for Ireland if he works on certain parts of his game. Despite my criticism of Marmion above I think he's great and I hope he starts at least one game with a good squad around him. Just when I think I can predict Joe's Leinster bias he throws a curveball. Also, Henshaw has 33 caps already at 24?? that crept up on me.

Decadence wrote: Strong squad, I thought he'd leave some Lions at home.

Joe really does like Quinn though, doesn't he?

He’s always played well for Ireland, controls his enthusiasm better than he does with us at times.

Surprised and delighted for the 3. Surprised he left McGrath out, but Marmion has never let Ireland down, even as a winger. Roux is a favourite just because of his grunt work and scrummaging, good on him. Incredible pack to be fair.

Great for Marmion and Roux. Tough on Bealham.

Strong squad, I thought he'd leave some Lions at home.

Joe really does like Quinn though, doesn't he?

IRELAND squad for 2018 Summer Tour of Australia

FORWARDS (18)
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) c 111 caps
Tadhg Beirne (Scarlets) uncapped
Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 7 caps
Sean Cronin (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 61 caps
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 23 caps
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 78 caps
Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 38 caps
Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 3 caps
Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster) 9 caps
Jack McGrath (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 47 caps
Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) 20 caps
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 47 caps
Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 7 caps
Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht) 5 caps
James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 8 caps
John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 13 caps
CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 23 caps
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 58 caps

BACKS (14)
Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 7 caps
Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster) uncapped
Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Leinster) 10 caps
Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 6 caps
John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster) 1 cap
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 67 caps
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 33 caps
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 83 caps
Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 3 caps
Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) 21 caps
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 64 caps
Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 13 caps
Johnny Sexton (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 73 caps
Jacob Stockdale (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 9 caps

Nope; Quinn & Marmo on the plane:

FACECUTTR wrote: .
Until Connacht start getting back up the table and being consistent I'd say barring injuries Bundee is the only guy who is going to be regularly in the Irish squad.

100%.

If you look at the options at scrum Half and type of season each has had its not hard to see how they line up for OZ.
Murray: 6 nations grand slam and 2 semi finals
McGrath: a few injuries but a champions cup winner and possibly pro 14 winner.
Cooney: playing fantastic in a team in turmoil. Their player of the season.
Marmion: 6 nations back up. Quarterfinal in challenge cup but not playing his normal fast zippy service. Playing in a team that was falling apart from the inside out.
Until Connacht start getting back up the table and being consistent I'd say barring injuries Bundee is the only guy who is going to be regularly in the Irish squad.

Mark Mostyn wrote:

sligsup wrote: I think Marmion will travel as alot of his recent social media posts are training in the Sportsground , that would indicate he will. Beirne will be included which will see Roux lose out although Joe does like him as a th lock option. Think Beahlam should travel but wont. Farrell is to weak defensively for Joe. He priortises defense over flair always.

KK has been saying before he was sacked that the lads were going to train as normal for the rest of the season and then do a review after.

Alot of the rest of them seem to be on their holidays taking their social media into account.
" Given Luke McGrath missed much of the Six Nations through injury and has since played a host of high-profile European Cup games, including the final, it could be that Kieran Marmion suffers for Connacht’s lack of games in the last four weeks."

Think this is very much an opinion than fact.