Three winners from the Ireland squad

KIERAN MARMION

The Connacht scrum-half has bounced back well from a nightmare injury spell and is rewarded with a recall. Marmion was left out of the World Cup squad and hasn’t played for Ireland since the warm-up win over Wales last August. The 28-year old will feel he has a major point to prove.

JACK CARTY

By his own admission, Carty dipped below his high standards following a difficult World Cup. The Connacht out-half has found his mojo again and is playing with renewed confidence.

FINLAY BEALHAM

The Connacht tighthead hasn’t played for Ireland since November 2018 and has, no doubt, benefitted from injuries to Tadhg Furlong and Tom O’Toole. Bealham has had his injury problems and will be desperate to make up for lost time.

And three losers...

JOHN COONEY

Arguably the outstanding player in Europe last season, having been in line to start against Italy in March, Cooney has fallen way down the pecking order – seemingly on the back of his post-lockdown form. The writing was on the wall after he was dropped from the Ulster team for the PRO14 decider, and Cooney is now left to play catch up.

LUKE McGRATH

The Leinster scrum-half finds himself in a similar boat as Cooney. McGrath was off the pace against Saracens, with Jamison Gibson-Park having significantly narrowed the gap and now overtaken him in the international pecking order.

ULTAN DILLANE

A head injury picked up playing for Connacht Eagles a fortnight ago was ill-timed, as Dillane misses out on selection. The Connacht lock was included in the initial Six Nations squad in January and now has work to do to regain his place.