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Leinster outhalf Ross Byrne and new Munster secondrow Tadhg Beirne are the two uncapped players named by Joe Schmidt in his 32-man Ireland squad for the three-Test tour of Australia.
Byrne’s inclusion means that all three Leinster outhalves are included, with Johnny Sexton and Joey Carbery also named.
Leinster scrumhalf Luke McGrath is not named, with Connacht’s Kieran Marmion and Ulster’s John Cooney backing up Conor Murray.
Quinn Roux is also named among the secondrows along with Beirne, who has had an outstanding season with the Scarlets.
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Ulster hooker Rob Herring gets the nod the third hooker spot ahead of James Tracy and Niall Scannell, while Dan Leavy is fit to travel. Rory Best will captain the side.
Commenting on the selection, Schmidt said: “This has probably been the most difficult selection process for the coaching group to date. We sat down on Monday morning to review the last pieces of footage and to discuss the balance and combinations that we felt we might need in Australia.
“At midday today we made the final decisions which included a number of very tough calls and some players are incredibly unlucky to miss out on selection.
“Over the past couple of months the national coaches have spent time in the provinces and been in communication with the provincial coaches who have done a super job in managing the players across the season.
“The coaching group are excited by the challenge that this three Test tour will present and from talking to the players we get a sense that they too are excited about going on Tour and testing themselves against one of the best sides in the world in their own backyard.”
Ireland will play three Tests against Michael Cheika’s Wallabies, the first taking place in Brisbane on Saturday June 9th. Melbourne and Sydney will host the other Tests.
IRELAND SQUAD
FORWARDS (18)
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) Captain 111 caps
Tadhg Beirne (Scarlets) uncapped
Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster) 7 caps
Seán Cronin (St Mary's College/Leinster) 61 caps
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 23 caps
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 78 caps
Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 38 caps
Rob Herring (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 3 caps
Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster) 9 caps
Jack McGrath (St Mary's College/Leinster) 47 caps
Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) 20 caps
Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) 47 caps
Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 7 caps
Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht) 5 caps
James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 8 caps
John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster) 13 caps
CJ Stander (Shannon/Munster) 23 caps
Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) 58 caps
BACKS (14)
Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 7 caps
Ross Byrne (UCD/Leinster) uncapped
Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Leinster) 10 caps
Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster) 6 caps
John Cooney (Terenure College RFC/Ulster) 1 cap
Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) 67 caps
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 33 caps
Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) 83 caps
Jordan Larmour (St Mary's College/Leinster) 3 caps
Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht) 21 caps
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 64 caps
Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster) 13 caps
Johnny Sexton (St Mary's College/Leinster) 73 caps
Jacob Stockdale (Ballynahnch/Ulster) 9 caps
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