Ireland unveil Six Nations squad led by Peter O'Mahony

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has named Peter O'Mahony as the captain for the upcoming Six Nations tournament.

O'Mahony, who has 101 Test caps for Ireland takes over the reins from Johnny Sexton with the former fly half announcing his retirement at the end of last year's Rugby World Cup.

He is joined by Jordan Larmour, Calvin Nash and Jacob Stockdale while Mack Hansen, Jimmy O'Brien, Dave Kilcoyne, Ross Byrne and Rob Herring miss out due to injuries.

The squad also has three uncapped players in Munster duo Oli Jager and Tom Ahern and Leinster's Sam Prendergast, who have been named under Training panellists. Following Sexton's retirement Jack Crowley, Harry Byrne and Ciaran Frawley have been handed the fly-halves role.

Ireland coach Farrell said the decision to appoint O'Mahony as the captain was a straightforward decision.

“To our new captain, Peter O’Mahony, he is a born leader and someone who has been an influential figure for Munster and Ireland for many years,” Farrell said.

“I am confident that the squad will continue to benefit from his leadership skills, both on and off the field. He is thoroughly deserving of this honour, and I know that he will relish working closely with the wider leadership group and squad over the coming campaign.

“I would like to congratulate him and his family at this special time.”

“Ever since I was a boy starting off in the game, I have always dreamed of captaining Ireland," said O'Mahony.

“I have been asked to lead Ireland on a number of occasions previously, and each of those 10 matches were special days. To be now asked to captain Ireland ahead of the Six Nations is without doubt one of the proudest moments of my life, and I would like to thank Andy for this show of faith in me.

“We have a strong core of leaders who will all play a key role in driving the highest standards for the team over the coming weeks.

“Competition is red hot across the squad, and we’re all hugely motivated to work hard when we meet up next week ahead of the opening game in Marseille.”

The squad will assemble at the IRFU high performance centre in Dublin on Monday.

Ireland's 34-man squad:

Forwards Ryan Baird, Finlay Bealham, Tadhg Beirne, Jack Conan, Caelan Doris, Tadhg Furlong, Cian Healy, Iain Henderson, Ronan Kelleher, Jeremy Loughman, Joe McCarthy, Peter O’Mahony (c), Tom O’Toole, Andrew Porter, James Ryan, Dan Sheehan, Tom Stewart, Nick Timoney, Josh van der Flier

Backs: Bundee Aki, Harry Byrne, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley, Ciaran Frawley, Jamison Gibson-Park, Robbie Henshaw, Hugo Keenan, Jordan Larmour, James Lowe, Stuart McCloskey, Conor Murray, Calvin Nash, Garry Ringrose, Jacob Stockdale