DUBLIN Oct 24 (Reuters) – Ireland coach Declan Kidney has named four uncapped players for test matches against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina in November while full-back Rob Kearney has been ruled out due to a back injury.
Ireland, who will try to bounce back from a 60-0 mauling by New Zealand in their last outing in June days after coming close to a draw, meet twice World Cup winners South Africa on Nov. 10, Fiji a week later and Argentina on Nov. 24.
Two Ulster players, centre Luke Marshall and forward Iain Henderson, were called up for the first time while Munster prop David Kilcoyne and South African native Richardt Strauss, who plays as hooker for Leinster, were also named in the squad.
Strauss is eligible to play after living in Ireland for over three years.
Kidney said while the injured players were a big loss those coming in would help Ireland’s bid to boost their world ranking ahead of the 2015 World Cup pool draw on Dec. 3.
“There are world ranking points on offer, so the underlying challenge for us is to work towards retaining and improving our ranking position,” Kidney said in a statement on Wednesday.
“While that is the end goal, our focus will be getting our preparations right to match the intensity of international games.”
New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and England currently hold down the top four spots with Ireland in seventh.
The top four sides at the time of the draw will be kept apart in the pool stage.
Ireland squad – Rory Best, Tommy Bowe, Darren Cave, Tom Court, Gordon D’Arcy, Keith Earls, Stephen Ferris, Cian Healy, Jamie Heaslip, Iain Henderson, Chris Henry, David Kilcoyne, Luke Marshall, John Muldoon, Conor Murray, Mike McCarthy, Fergus McFadden, Kevin McLaughlin, Donncha O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Brian O’Driscoll, Ronan O’Gara, Peter O’Mahony, Eoin Reddan, Mike Ross, Donnacha Ryan, Jonathan Sexton, Richardt Strauss, Andrew Trimble, Dan Tuohy, Simon Zebo (Reporting by Conor Humphries, Editing by Tom Pilcher)
