O'Brien and Osbourne amongst Kildare names in 42-Player Ireland squad

Ireland Head Coach Andy Farrell has today named a 42-player Summer Training Squad to begin preparations for the Bank of Ireland Nations Series and Rugby World Cup 2023.

Jamie Osbourne is one of the inclusion into the squad and the uncapped Naas man will certainly be looking to make an impression like his fellow Kildare members of the squad have in the past. The most recent of which perhaps is Jimmy O'Brien, the versatile Eadestown native has become a much more prominent figure for Ireland in recent months having played his way into Andy Farrell's focus with standout contributions for club side Leinster.

Another Eadestown man that is of course present in the Irish squad is starting XV mainstay Tadhg Beirne, who is fresh off United Rugby Championship (URC) success with Munster in Cape Town last week.

Following the conclusion of the URC and Heineken Champions Cup campaigns, the Ireland Coaching Team have selected an extended panel of players to assemble at the IRFU High Performance Centre on June 18 for the first block of pre-season.

The Ireland squad will train at their Dublin base through June and July ahead of the Bank of Ireland Nations Series which will see Farrell's side fine-tune their preparations for Rugby World Cup 2023 with home matches against Italy (Saturday, August 5 - kick-off 8pm) and England (Saturday, August 19- kick-off 5.30pm) at Aviva Stadium and a fixture against Samoa at Stade Jean-Dauger in Bayonne (Saturday, August 26 - kick-off 9pm local time/8pm Irish time).

Broadcast details for the Bank of Ireland Nations Series will be confirmed shortly, with tickets for the games against Italy and England at Aviva Stadium available to purchase via Ticketmaster now.

Farrell has included four uncapped players in his Summer Training Squad, with Ulster hooker Tom Stewart called up having been part of the extended Ireland squad during the Guinness Six Nations campaign, while Leinster backs Ciaran Frawley and Jamie Osborne and Munster winger Calvin Nash are rewarded for their performances for their Provinces this season.

Commenting on the squad announcement Farrell said, "It is exciting to announce our extended training squad for the first phase of Rugby World Cup preparations, and we're looking forward to assembling in Dublin next month to hit the ground running as a group.

"It’s pleasing to see that selection has been as tough as ever, as real quality players have initially been unfortunate to have missed out. I’m sure that camp will be competitive enough as we grow minds and bodies and look to push on with our game from last season.

"In the meantime, it’s important that we freshen up for a busy and exciting summer ahead, so we're ready to get to work on June 18 and build towards the Bank of Ireland Nations Series and to France beyond that."

In addition to the three Bank of Ireland Nations Series matches, the Ireland squad will travel to Portugal for a warm-weather training camp in August, before Farrell's final 33-player Rugby World Cup squad is announced in late August.

Ireland open their Rugby World Cup campaign against Romania in Bordeaux on September 9, before further Pool B clashes against Tonga (September 16) in Nantes, and South Africa (September 23) and Scotland (October 7) at the Stade de France in Paris.

Ireland Training Squad:

Forwards (22):

Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University)
Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers)
Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne)
Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere)
Gavin Coombes (Munster/Young Munster)
Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College)
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf)
Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf)
Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy)
Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch)
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne)
Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians)
Joe McCarthy (Leinster/Dublin University)
Peter O'Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution)
Tom O'Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch)
Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD)
Cian Prendergast (Connacht/Corinthians)
James Ryan (Leinster/UCD)
Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne)
Tom Stewart (Ulster/Ballynahinch)
Kieran Treadwell (Ulster/Ballymena)
Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD)

Backs (20)

Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians)
Caolin Blade (Connacht/Galwegians)
Ross Byrne (Leinster/UCD)
Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon)
Jack Crowley (Munster/Cork Constitution)
Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster)
Ciaran Frawley (Leinster/UCD)
Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster)
Mack Hansen (Connacht/Corinthians)
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers)
Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD)
James Lowe (Leinster)
Stuart McCloskey (Ulster/Bangor)
Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen)
Calvin Nash (Munster/Young Munster)
Jimmy O'Brien (Leinster/Naas)
Jamie Osborne (Leinster/Naas)
Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD)
Jonathan Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College)
Jacob Stockdale (Ulster/Lurgan)