Three uncapped players in Ireland squad

Johnny Sexton has been included in the 40-man squad for Ireland's opening two games of the RBS Six Nations.

Sexton limped off during Leinster 24-24 draw with Castres on Friday night after picking up a calf injury but the fly-half will be given every opportunity to prove his fitness before the opener against Scotland on Saturday, February 4.

Ultan Dillane is currently sidelined with an ankle injury but the Connacht players has been included as has Sean O'Brien despite missing Leinster's last two games with a calf problem.

Joe Schmidt and his coaching staff have included three uncapped players in the squad with Munster's Niall Scannell set to battle it out with James Tracey to fill the gap left by the injury to Sean Cronin.

Scannell's brother Rory and Munster team-mate Andrew Conway are the other two uncapped players in the squad.

"It has been good to watch the players over the past two months and great to see many of them doing so well," Schmidt commented.

"As always there were some difficult decisions but we feel that the group is a good mix with a number of key players having good experience and a number of newer players having gained valuable experience and confidence during the summer tour to South Africa and the recent Guinness Series."

Ireland begin their RBS Six Nations campaign against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday week before flying to Rome to take on Conor O'Shea's Italian side on Saturday, February 11.

Ireland squad for Rounds 1 &2 of 2017 RBS Six Nations:

Forwards (22)
Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht)

Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)

Jack Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster)

Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht)

Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster)

Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)

Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster)

Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster)

Billy Holland (Cork Constitution/Munster)

Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster)

Dan Leavy (UCD/Leinster)

Jack McGrath (St. Mary's College/Leinster)

Sean O'Brien (UCD/Leinster)

Tommy O'Donnell (UL Bohemians/Munster)

Peter O'Mahony (Cork Con/Munster)

Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)

John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster)

Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) *

CJ Stander (Munster)

Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster)

James Tracy (UCD/Leinster)

Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster)

Backs (18)
Tommy Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster)

Andrew Conway (Munster) *

Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster)

Craig Gilroy (Bangor/Ulster)

Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster)

Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster)

Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster)

Kieran Marmion (Corinthians/Connacht)

Luke Marshall (Ballymena/Ulster)

Stuart McCloskey (Ballynahinch/Ulster)

Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster)

Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster)

Tiernan O'Halloran (Buccaneers/Connacht)

Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster)

Rory Scannell (Dolphin/Munster) *

Jonathan Sexton (St Mary's College/Leinster)

Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)

Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster)

*Denotes uncapped player

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