June 17 (Reuters) - Caelan Doris will captain Ireland in their inaugural Nations Championship bow in Australia, Japan and New Zealand next month, a 36-player squad that includes the uncapped Connacht trio of Billy Bohan, Sam Illo and Sean Jansen.
* Prop Billy Bohan was part of Ireland’s Six Nations squad earlier this season but did not play, while fellow front row forward Sam Illo is selected for the first time.
* New Zealand-born back row Sean Jansen played for Ireland ‘A’ in 2025 but is also called up for the first time.
* Ryan Baird, Shayne Bolton, Jack Boyle, Jack Crowley, Edwin Edogbo, Tom Farrell, Mack Hansen, Paddy McCarthy, Calvin Nash and Andrew Porter all unavailable due to injury.
* Ireland open their Nations Championship campaign against Australia in Sydney on July 4, before a clash with Japan in the Australian city of Newcastle a week later.
* They travel to Auckland for a fixture with New Zealand on July 18.
* “It’s important that we hit the ground running in this new tournament,” Ireland coach Andy Farrell said.
“The experience of playing Down Under will be priceless for us and even though we’ll be playing in front of largely partisan home crowds, we are also excited about playing in front of a huge Irish support.”
Ireland squad:
Forwards: Tadhg Beirne, Billy Bohan, Thomas Clarkson, Jack Conan, Caelan Doris, Tadhg Furlong, Sam Illo, Cormac Izuchukwu, Sean Jansen, Rónan Kelleher, Jeremy Loughman, Joe McCarthy, Darragh Murray, Tom O’Toole, Cian Prendergast, James Ryan, Dan Sheehan, Tom Stewart, Nick Timoney, Josh van der Flier
Backs: Bundee Aki, Rob Baloucoune, Harry Byrne, Craig Casey, Nathan Doak, Ciaran Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park, Robbie Henshaw, Hugo Keenan, Stuart McCloskey, Jimmy O’Brien, Tommy O’Brien, Jamie Osborne, Sam Prendergast, Garry Ringrose, Jacob Stockdale.
(Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
