Tadhg Furlong and John Cooney have both missed out on Andy Farrell's 35-man Ireland squad for the final two games of the Covid-19-delayed 2020 Guinness Six Nations Championship.

Leinster prop Furlong suffered a calf injury last week that had cast doubt about his inclusion, while Cooney appears to have paid a heavy price for a recent loss of form.   

Uncapped sextet Ryan Baird, Ed Byrne, Will Connors, Shane Daly, Hugo Keenan and Jamison Gibson Park have all been called up, while other new faces - Harry Byrne, Craig Casey, James Lowe, James Tracy and Fineen Wycherley - will train with the squad next week at the IRFU High Performance Centre in Dublin. Johnny Sexton is again named captain.

Ireland face Italy at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday 24 October before meeting France in Paris seven days later.

They currently sit fourth in the table, one point behind Scotland and four off England and France who have all played an extra game. 

Back in February Ireland beat the Scots and Wales before going down at Twickenham against England.

"There has been a huge effort right across Irish rugby to ensure that the professional game could return safely and that work is greatly appreciated by the national management," said Farrell.

"We have protocols in place to safeguard the welfare of the players and staff and are looking forward to completing the Six Nations Championships.

"We have two competitions to play in over the coming months but will focus first on a strong finish to the Six Nations. 

"The return to rugby has not been without its challenges as some players have suffered injury setbacks and there has been limited playing opportunities ahead of a busy and exciting international window.

"We will be closely monitoring the form and fitness of players competing in the Guinness Pro14 over the coming weeks."

IRELAND SQUAD

Backs 
Bundee Aki (Connacht) 
Ross Byrne (Leinster) 
Jack Carty (Connacht)
Andrew Conway (Munster) 
*Shane Daly (Munster) 
Chris Farrell (Munster) 
*Jamison Gibson Park (Leinster) 
Robbie Henshaw (Leinster) 
Hugo Keenan (Leinster) 
Jordan Larmour (Leinster) 
Kieran Marmion (Connacht) 
Stuart McCloskey (Ulster) 
Conor Murray (Munster) 
Garry Ringrose (Leinster) 
Jonathan Sexton (Leinster, Capt) 
Jacob Stockdale (Ulster)

Forwards 
*Ryan Baird (Leinster) 
Finlay Bealham (Connacht) 
Tadhg Beirne (Munster) 
*Ed Byrne (Leinster) 
*Will Connors (Leinster) 
Jack Conan (Leinster) 
Caelan Doris (Leinster) 
Cian Healy (Leinster) 
Dave Heffernan (Connacht) 
Iain Henderson (Ulster) 
Rob Herring (Ulster) 
Ronan Kelleher (Leinster) 
Peter O’Mahony (Munster) 
Andrew Porter (Leinster) 
Quinn Roux (Connacht) 
James Ryan (Leinster) 
John Ryan (Munster) 
CJ Stander (Munster) 
Josh van der Flier (Leinster) 

*Denotes uncapped player

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