Ireland name 26-man squad for Italy Test

Ireland have decided to rest several front-line players for their first Test of the November window.

Joe Schmidt has selected a 26-man squad to travel to Chicago to take on Italy this Saturday.

The Ireland head coach will have a firm eye on the November 17th test with New Zealand, as the world's top-2 ranked nations collide. They also play Argentina in Dublin the week before.

Johnny Sexton has been left at home, as has Robbie Henshaw, Keith Earls, Rob Kearney, Peter O'Mahony and Rory Best, among others.

It's likely that Joey Carbery will start against the Italians, with Leinster's Ross Bryne set to make his first appearance for Ireland from the bench, having been unused on the tour of Australia last June.

Another potential debutant is Ulster's Will Addison who left English Premiership club Sale in the summer to pursue his international ambitions.

With Conor Murray absent through injury and Connacht's Kieran Marmion left at home, it is a straight fight between Ulster's John Cooney and Leinster's Luke McGrath for the number 9 jersey.

Rhys Ruddock, who has captained Ireland before, is in line to get the nod once more. The match is taking place at Soldier Field, the venue where Ireland registered their first ever win over the All Blacks.

Ireland Squad

Forwards (15):

Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht) 7

Tadhg Beirne (Munster) 2

Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 9

Sean Cronin (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 62

Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 26

Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 22

Jack McGrath (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 50

Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Ulster) 23

Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 8

Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht) 6

Rhys Ruddock (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 19

James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 11

Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) 9

Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 60

Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 10

Backs (11):

Will Addison (Enniskillen/Ulster) *

Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 9

Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster) *

Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Munster) 12

Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 7

John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster) 2

Jordan Larmour (St. Mary's College/Leinster) 6

Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) 6

Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 14

Jacob Stockdale (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 11

Darren Sweetnam (Cork Constitution/Munster) 2

You may also like: The Rugby Pod discuss whether Johnny Sexton is protected