Ireland cut five players ahead of August 28 RWC squad announcement

Andy Farrell has trimmed his Ireland squad ahead of the upcoming August 28 confirmation of the 33 he will take with him to the Rugby World Cup. The 2023 Six Nations Grand Slam champions had been training with an original 42-strong squad that was recently increased with the addition of an extra prop.

However, ahead of this Saturday’s Summer Nations Series match versus England in Dublin, Farrell has now opted to reduce his World Cup options by five, excluding two forwards and three backs.

A statement read: “The Ireland management has confirmed that five players will now return to their provinces to continue their pre-season training programmes. They are Caolin Blade, Gavin Coombes, Calvin Nash, Jamie Osborne and Kieran Treadwell.

“With Munster prop Jeremy Loughman having been added to the squad this week, this means that there are now 38 players in training. The final 33-man Ireland squad for Rugby World Cup 2023 will be announced on Monday, August 28.”

After taking on England, the world No1-ranked Ireland have one final warm-up fixture, their August 26 meeting with Samoa in Bayonne, behind naming their 33 for an RWC campaign that begins in Bordeaux on September 9 versus Romania and also features pool matches against Tonga, South Africa and Scotland.