Carty recalled to Irish squad for Six Nations

Jack Carty has been recalled to the Irish rugby squad ahead of the 2022 Six Nations Championship which begins early next month.

Athlone native Carty has yet to play for Ireland since Andy Farrell became head coach, but the talented out-half has been rewarded for his impressive displays for Connacht this season.

As expected, fellow Athlone man Robbie Henshaw is part of the squad, having received two Ireland player of the year awards by virtue of his performances in 2021.

Finlay Bealham has been selected among the forwards which means that there are three Buccaneers RFC players in the squad.

Farrell and the Ireland coaching group have named a 37-player squad ahead of the Six Nations (see full squad below).

The squad will be captained by Johnny Sexton who earned his 100th cap for his country against Japan last November.

Ireland will host Wales, Italy and Scotland at the Aviva Stadium over the course of the championship while also travelling to Paris and London to face France and England respectively.

There are two uncapped players named in the extended squad – Ulster’s Michael Lowry and Connacht’s Mack Hansen. Both have trained with the national squad in the past six months.

Connacht’s Cian Prendergast will join the squad for the training camp in Portugal as a development player. The former Ireland U20 player has made nine appearances for Connacht this season.

Andy Farrell commented: "In November we challenged the group to get up to speed quickly so that the team could perform at international level. The same will apply for this Six Nations campaign, we need to be at our best against Wales on the opening weekend.

"We have a strong squad with competition for places across the board; there is a nice blend of experienced internationals and guys who have had their first taste of this level in the past 12 months. The games in November gave us a good foundation to build on and areas where we know we will have to improve.

"It will be an exciting Championship with so many strong squads and impressive performances across the board during the autumn."

Ireland’s opening fixture of the 2022 Six Nations is against Wales on Saturday, February 5. A week later, the squad will travel to France to take on Les Bleus in Paris.

In Round 3 on Sunday, February 27, Ireland host Italy at the Aviva and then travel to Twickenham to take on England two weeks later. In the final round of the championship Ireland host Scotland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, March 19.

All games will be available on free-to-air television in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. ITV (NI) will broadcast all of Ireland’s games, RTE (ROI) will broadcast the games against Wales and England while VIRGIN (ROI) will broadcast the games against France, Italy and Scotland.

Ireland squad: Guinness Six Nations 2022

Backs (17)

Bundee Aki (Connacht/Galwegians) 33 caps

Robert Baloucoune (Ulster/Enniskillen) 2 caps

Joey Carbery (Munster/Clontarf) 27 caps

Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht) 10 caps

Craig Casey (Munster/Shannon) 4 caps

Andrew Conway (Munster/Garryowen) 27 caps

Keith Earls (Munster/Young Munster) 96 caps

Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 12 caps

Mack Hansen (Connacht) uncapped

Robbie Henshaw (Leinster/Buccaneers) 53 caps

James Hume (Ulster/Banbridge) 1 cap

Hugo Keenan (Leinster/UCD) 16 caps

Jordan Larmour (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 30 caps

Michael Lowry (Ulster/Banbridge) uncapped

Conor Murray (Munster/Garryowen) 92 caps

Garry Ringrose (Leinster/UCD) 37 caps

Johnny Sexton (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 101 caps, captain

Forwards (20)

Ryan Baird (Leinster/Dublin University) 6 caps

Finlay Bealham (Connacht/Buccaneers) 18 caps

Tadhg Beirne (Munster/Lansdowne) 25 caps

Jack Conan (Leinster/Old Belvedere) 22 caps

Gavin Coombes (Munster/Young Munster) 2 caps

Caelan Doris (Leinster/St Mary’s College) 12 caps

Tadhg Furlong (Leinster/Clontarf) 52 caps

Cian Healy (Leinster/Clontarf) 112 caps

Iain Henderson (Ulster/Academy) 65 caps

Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 23 caps

Ronan Kelleher (Leinster/Lansdowne) 16 caps

Dave Kilcoyne (Munster/UL Bohemians) 45 caps

Peter O’Mahony (Munster/Cork Constitution) 79 caps

Tom O’Toole (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 2 caps

Andrew Porter (Leinster/UCD) 40 caps

James Ryan (Leinster/UCD) 40 caps

Dan Sheehan (Leinster/Lansdowne) 2 caps

Nick Timoney (Ulster/Banbridge) 2 caps

Kieran Treadwell (Ulster/Ballymena) 3 caps

Josh van der Flier (Leinster/UCD) 35 caps.

*Development player: Cian Prendergast (Connacht).