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Two players born in the USA have been named in Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad for Rugby World Cup 2023. Loosehead prop Jeremy Loughman steps in for the injured Cian Healy, with second row Joe McCarthy also included in the 33-man roster traveling to France.
Loughman has the strongest links to America. He was born in Reno, Nevada, and moved to England when he was four. His father is Irish and they moved to County Kildare at age 12. While the family later moved back to the USA to live in California, Loughman stayed in Ireland to pursue his rugby career.
Both of McCarthy’s parents are Irish and he was born in Manhattan while his father worked in New York. At the age of three his family returned to Dublin. Both Loughman and McCarthy came through Ireland’s age-grade system and represented their country in the u20 Six Nations.
Ireland enter the tournament as the top team on the World Rugby Rankings, and will compete against the No2-ranked side South Africa in Pool B. Scotland, Tonga, and Romania are their other opponents in the round-robin stage.
LOOSEHEAD PROP
David Kilcoyne (Munster) 52 caps
Jeremy Loughman (Munster) 3 caps
Andrew Porter (Leinster) 54 caps
HOOKER
Rob Herring (Ulster) 37 caps
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster) 21 caps
Dan Sheehan (Leinster) 18 caps
TIGHTHEAD PROP
Finlay Bealham (Connacht) 32 caps
Tadhg Furlong (Leinster) 67 caps
Tom O’Toole (Ulster) 11 caps
SECOND ROW
Tadhg Beirne (Munster) 41 caps
Iain Henderson (Ulster) 74 caps
Joe McCarthy (Leinster) 3 caps
James RYan (Leinster) 55 caps
BACK ROW
Ryan Baird (Leinster) 13 caps
Jack Conan (Leinster) 39 caps
Caelan Doris (Leinster) 31 caps
Peter O’Mahony (Munster) 96 caps
Josh van der Flier (Leinster) 52 caps
SCRUMHALF
Craig Casey (Munster) 12 caps
Jamison Gibson-Park (Leinster) 26 caps
Conor Murray (Munster) 106 caps
FLYHALF
Ross Byrne (Leinster) 21 caps
Jack Crowley (Munster) 6 caps
Jonathan Sexton (capt., Leinster) 113 caps
MIDFIELD
Bundee Aki (Connacht) 47 caps
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster) 64 caps
Stuart McCloskey (Ulster) 13 caps
Garry Ringrose (Leinster) 51 caps
OUTSIDE BACKS
Keith Earls (Munster) 100 caps
Mack Hansen (Connacht) 16 caps
Hugo Keenan (Leinster) 31 caps
James Lowe (Leinster) 21 caps
Jimmy O’Brien (Leinster) 6 caps
