Kidney names 28-man Irish squad

A 28-man Ireland squad has been named by boss Declan Kidney ahead of the final game in the Guinness Series against Argentina this Saturday in Croke Park.

Rory Best and Paul O'Connell, who are recovering from dead legs received during the New Zealand game, have been included in the enlarged squad from which the starting team and replacements to play Argentina will be confirmed on Thursday morning.

Prop Tony Buckley is also included in the squad after being named in the replacements for Munster against New Zealand.

Commenting on the squad announcement, Declan Kidney said, 'Both Paul and Rory are doing OK as they rehab from their dead legs and took a limited part in training today.

'Alan is involved in a disciplinary hearing, so we are just trying to give as much time possible for these matters to be cleared up before we confirm the team.

'All three of them have been named in the squad and the fact that we decided on 28 members shows how competitive the battle for places in this game is. It also allows us to cover several combinations if anybody is ruled out of the game.

'While we would normally name our team today, I think the circumstances and also the importance of the game meant we needed to give ourselves that extra couple of days to consider all the options that would become available to us.

He continued: 'Nobody is doubting the challenge that faces us this Saturday against another team that is above us in the IRB rankings. Added to the fact that both teams have something to play for in terms of those world rankings, I think that it gives this game even more of a competitive edge.

'As I said on Monday, Argentina is a team that work and play extremely hard for each other, so they will no doubt be even better then they have been in their two games to date.'

Ireland squad to play Argentina in Croke Park on Saturday 22 November at 2.45pm:

Backs: Tommy Bowe, Girvan Dempsey, Keith Earls, Luke Fitzgerald, Shane Horgan, Robert Kearney, Geordan Murphy, Brian O'Driscoll, Ronan O'Gara, Tomas O'Leary, Eoin Reddan, Paddy Wallace

Forwards: Rory Best, Tony Buckley, Bob Casey, Tom Court, Stephen Ferris, Jerry Flannery, John Hayes, Jamie Heaslip, Marcus Horan, Bernard Jackman, Shane Jennings Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell, Malcolm O'Kelly, Alan Quinlan, David Wallace