Lowe left out as Ireland name two uncapped players in squad of 37

Ireland boss Andy Farrell has named two uncapped players - Ulster’s Michael Lowry and Connacht’s Mack Hansen - in his 37-strong squad for the upcoming Guinness Six Nations campaign which starts with a home match versus Wales in Dublin on February 5. But there was surprisingly no place for James Lowe - a starter in all three wins last November and a try-scorer versus the All Blacks and Japan.

The New Zealander's Test career since qualifying for Ireland under residency had been plagued by criticisms of his defence, but Lowe put those doubts behind him with his form in the Autumn Nations Series. He made three appearances for schedule-hit Leinster since then, scoring in their two European matches, but has now been excluded by Farrell.

There was no reason given for the exclusion of Lowe when the IRFU communications department issued by email the names of the players in Farrell's squad, generating speculation that form was the issue. However, it later emerged that Lowe had suffered a hamstring injury at Leinster training and that this was what ruled him out of selection consideration.  

Both Lowry and Hansen trained with the national squad in the past few months, Lowry during last July's summer series and Hansen during the Autumn Nations Series. Injured Munster out-half Joey Carbery is included in the squad that is captained by Johnny Sexton, but Connacht's Jack Carty is the third No10 on this occasion, getting the nudge on Harry Byrne who was capped off the bench versus Argentina.   

Cian Prendergast, Carty's provincial colleague, will also join the squad for the training camp in Portugal as a development player. Farrell said: “In November we challenged the group to get up to speed quickly so that the team could perform at international level. The same will apply for this Six Nations campaign, we need to be at our best against Wales on the opening weekend.

“We have a strong squad with competition for places across the board, there is a nice blend of experienced internationals and guys who have had their first taste of this level in the past twelve months. The games in November gave us a good foundation to build on and areas where we know we will have to improve. It will be an exciting championship with so many strong squads and impressive performances across the board during the autumn.”

IRELAND 2022 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS SQUAD 

Backs (17)

Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 33 caps

Robert Baloucoune (Ulster/Enniskillen) 2 caps

Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 27 caps

Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht) 10 caps

Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 4 caps

Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 27 caps

Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) 96 caps

Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 12 caps

Mack Hansen (Connacht) uncapped

Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 53 caps

James Hume (Ulster/Banbridge) 1 cap

Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 16 caps

Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 30 caps

Michael Lowry (Ulster/Banbridge) uncapped

Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 92 caps

Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 37 caps

Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 101 caps CAPTAIN

Forwards (20)

Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) 6 caps

Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 18 caps

Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 25 caps

Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 22 caps

Gavin Coombes (Munster/Young Munster) 2 caps

Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 12 caps

Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 52 caps

Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 112 caps

Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 65 caps

Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 23 caps

Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 16 caps

Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 45 caps

Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 79 caps

Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 2 caps

Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 40 caps

James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 40 caps

Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 2 caps

Nick Timoney (Ulster/Banbridge) 2 caps

Kieran Treadwell (Ulster/Ballymena) 3 caps

Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 35 caps

Development Player

Cian Prendergast (Connacht)