Uncapped Leinster trio named in Ireland squad

May 16, 2017 1:08 pm client

Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

The uncapped Leinster trio of Rory O’Loughlin, Andrew Porter and James Ryan have all been named in the Ireland squad for this summer’s tour of the US and Japan.

Ryan captained the Ireland U20s at last summer’s U20 World Championship in England, which saw them defeat New Zealand on the way to a second-place finish at the tournament.

The young lock has yet to make his senior Leinster debut after suffering a hamstring injury earlier this season.

Porter made his debut this season in the Guinness PRO12 match against Benetton Treviso at the RDS. He has since gone on to make seven more appearances for the province, including his first start away to Zebre in November of last year.

O’Loughlin also made his senior debut this year, putting in some outstanding performances in the Guinness PRO12 and Champions Cup.

He has made 21 appearances for the province in a breakthrough season which has also seen him cross for 10 tries, including a PRO12 Try of the Year contender against Ulster at the RDS back on New Year’s Eve.

In total there are 13 Leinster players named in the 31-man squad, including the province’s Players’ Player of the Year, Luke McGrath, and Young Player of the Year, Joey Carbery.

Ireland’s first game of the Summer Tour takes place against the US Eagles at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey on Saturday 10th June.

The squad then flies to Japan for two Tests against the RWC19 hosts who have been drawn in Pool A alongside Ireland at the World Cup.

The first Test takes place at the Ecopa Stadium in Shizuoka on Saturday 17th June with the final Test of the tour being held at the Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo on Saturday 24th June.

Ireland Head Coach, Joe Schmidt, commented: “With 11 players due to tour with the British & Irish Lions, plus a number of injuries to experienced internationals, the summer tour squad includes plenty of youth.

“There is a real freshness to the group, including the coaching staff, so we’re looking forward to what will be a very challenging summer tour.

“We have retained a sprinkling of experienced players, some of whom may yet be called up to the Lions, but the focus is really on challenging the younger players to cope with the heat and foreign conditions as well as the speed and physicality of test rugby.”

One further player will be added to the squad following the weekend’s provincial fixtures.

The tour will also see three young Irish coaches spend time with the national team.

Leinster Rugby backs coach Girvan Dempsey will travel, along with Racing 92’s Ronan O’Gara and Munster’s Felix Jones.

Ireland Squad Summer Tour 2017 – USA & Japan

Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht) 6 caps
Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Leinster) 3 caps
Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 1 cap
Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 1 cap
John Cooney (Connacht) uncapped
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 59 caps
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 67 caps
Dave Heffernan (Connacht/Buccaneers) uncapped
Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster) 23 caps
Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster) 17 caps
Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster) 2 caps
Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) 13 caps
Luke Marshall (Ballymena/Ulster) 9 caps
Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster) 1 cap
Tommy O’Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster) 12 caps
Jack O’Donoghue (UL Bohemians/Munster) 1 cap
Tiernan O’Halloran (Buccaneers/Connacht) 3 caps
Rory O’Loughlin (Old Belvedere/Leinster) uncapped
Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) uncapped
Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 8 caps
Rhys Ruddock (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 13 caps
James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) uncapped
John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 6 caps
Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) 4 caps
Rory Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) uncapped
Jacob Stockdale (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) uncapped
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 47 caps
James Tracy (UCD/Leinster) 2 caps
Kieran Treadwell (Ballymena/Ulster) uncapped
Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 7 caps
Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster) 33 caps