The Ireland boss has named his picks ahead of the championship kick-off against Wales on February 4. Mirror Sport takes a look at who will be ecstatic to make the cut and who will feel hard done by as Joey Carbery is the headline omission and Jamie Osborne the only uncapped player added
WINNERS
JAMIE OSBORNE
Deserves this chance and the only uncapped player included. Only 21 but the Naas youngster has put in performances beyond his years this season, and particularly in the last few weeks. Last Saturday's man of the match display for Leinster in Gloucester in front of Ireland's backs coach Mike Catt franked his place in the squad. Was a development pick in the November window in 2021 but now likely to become Ireland's newest Test cap in the coming weeks, especially with Robbie Henshaw set to miss the Six Nations opener in Cardiff with a wrist injury and Bundee Aki short on game time. Osborne could be a rare breed this year as a World Cup bolter as Farrell looks to consolidate his squad for France 2023 rather than continue the wide selection policy that saw him cap 45 players in 2022.
ROSS BYRNE
The Leinster no 10 was as emotional as we've seen as he nailed the winning penalty against Australia in the final Autumn series Test, his first Ireland involvement in 18 months. It was his greatest moment yet in a very chequered Test career that has yet to really get off the ground, but his form since then has elevated to new heights with the Blues as, in the absence of Johnny Sexton, the 27-year-old has led the province's lethal attack with greater authority and skill levels than before. Nevertheless it is still something of a surprise to see his name in the squad; if Byrne was to make it, something had to give and it is, surprisingly, Joey Carbery who is omitted, with Byrne, Sexton and Jack Crowley named as out-halves. This is Byrne's time to convince Farrell he should be at RWC 2023.
GAVIN COOMBES
Looked set fair for game time during the Autumn series but the Munster back row was one of Ireland A's worst performers on a bad night against the All Blacks XV and ended up going back to the province. After that RDS game, Andy Farrell told his under-performing players that they needed to reflect on their levels of preparation and commitment to achieve at the highest level, and Coombes appears to have done that, given the response he has produced for the Reds, culminating in his two tries against Northampton last weekend.
BACKLINE OLD GUARD
Conor Murray, Bundee Aki and Keith Earls come under this category, as all three had been left out by their provinces as the selection deadline approached. It was strange to see Murray and Earls as surplus to requirements for Northampton's visit to Thomond Park, considering the importance of the fixture and their European IQ, and for Aki to lose out to in-form young gun Cathal Forde having previously been left out due to the IRFU player welfare system. However Andy Farrell has put a lot of faith in his senior players and, at the start of a World Cup year, was not going to discard them because of recent events. Nevertheless they will feel under pressure to perform in this Six Nations window.
JACOB STOCKDALE
It would have been no shock really had the Ulsterman been left out. The top try scorer in the 2018 championship has had such a tough time of it with long-term injury and his form is not yet where it was at the height of his powers during that Grand Slam winning year, and with Munster duo Mike Haley and Shane Daly performing at a high level consistently this season, Stockdale can count himself fortunate to make the cut.
LOSERS
JOEY CARBERY
So it still remains to be seen whether the Munster no 10's omission is down to injury or form, with Andy Farrell saying in his squad announcement that there are players with knocks who have missed out alongside those who have done so because of current form. So we must reserve judgement for now, but it is still something of a surprise not to see Carbery's name there. Whether injured or not, this is still a key window in terms of selection for France 2023 so the Athy man could lose ground here. For so long now he has been Johnny Sexton's understudy, but there have been growing concerns that he is not the answer in the absence of the veteran first choice and the hot form of Carbery's Munster colleague Jack Crowley and of Ross Byrne at Leinster have put him under real pressure.
NICK TIMONEY
Definitely a victim of the Ulster malaise that saw the province made a very impressive start to the new season only to fall away dramatically since their second half collapse against Leinster during the festive season. Dubliner Timoney had worked his way into the Ireland squad by performing at a consistently high level, but the flanker hasn't built on his start against Fiji in November. Cian Prendergast of Connacht has made the cut ahead of him on this occasion and Jack Conan has just hung on for a back row place.
KIERAN TREADWELL
Similar to Timoney, in that Ulster's woes have contributed to his omission. Treadwell came off the bench against South Africa and started against Fiji in November, however Andy Farrell is obviously keen to take another good look at Joe McCarthy, the young Leinster second row who has been ripping up trees with the province and is expected to feature against Racing on Saturday.
MIKE HALEY
The Munster man, along with his provincial team-mate Shane Daly, will be disappointed this morning. Both have been in superb form as the Reds have turned their season around and, in Haley's case in particular, must be wondering what he needs to do to turn Andy Farrell's head and make his first Test appearance since October 2019.
ROBBIE HENSHAW
Will certainly be added into the mix when he is right but for now the Leinster centre will be frustrated not to be there, having undergone wrist surgery and currently going through the rehab process. Henshaw had hoped to return around about now to be ready for the championship but it was not to be, and he will have to bide his time.
ROBERT BALOUCOUNE
Started against South Africa in the first Autumn series Test but the 25-year-old winger suffered a hamstring injury against Benetton Treviso at the start of the month and has been left out of the Six Nations selection picture, at least for now. With so many back three options available to him, Baloucoune will be frustrated to lose ground.
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