Joe Schmidt has named his 46-man squad for the upcoming Six Nations Championship and the Ireland Wolfhounds clash with the England Saxons. Luke Fitzgerald, Keith Earls, Cian Healy and Sean O'Brien feature in an enlarged panel.
Much maligned Leinster prop Michael Bent has been recalled to the international scene ahead of Connacht Denis Buckley and Ulster's Callum Black. While Munster hooker has been overlooked in favour of Rob Herring.
Connacht's Nathan White will be looking to win his belated first cap, and joins the squad as the third Tighthead, meaning there is no place for promising Tadhg Furlong or Rodney Ah You who was on the bench in November.
There are also recalls for Isaac Boss while only 3 outhalves in the squad mean that Hanrahan will not be tied to Ireland when he leaves for Northampton at the end of the season.
Andrew Trimble, Robin Copeland, Luke Marshall, Donncha Ryan and David Kilcoyne will remain with their provinces to recover from injury and may return later in the tournament.
Ireland Six Nations Squad 2015:
Looseheads:Cian Healy, Jack McGrath, James Cronin, Michael Bent
Hookers: Rory Best, Sean Cronin, Richardt Strauss, Rob Herring
Tightheads: Mike Ross, Martin Moore, Nathan White
Second Rows: Paul O'Connell, Dave Foley, Devin Toner, Iain Henderson, Mike McCarthy
Blindside Flankers: Peter O'Mahony, Robbie Diack, Rhys Ruddock
Openside Flankers: Sean O'Brien, Tommy O'Donnell, Jordi Murphy, Dominic Ryan
No. 8s: Jamie Heaslip, Jack Conan,
Scrumhalves: Conor Murray, Eoin Reddan, Kieran Marmion, Isaac Boss
Outhalves: Johnny Sexton, Ian Madigan, Ian Keatley.
Inside Centres: Gordon D'Arcy, Noel Reid
Outside Centres: Robbie Henshaw, Jared Payne, Luke Fitzgerald, Darren Cave
Wingers: Tommy Bowe, Fergus McFadden, Dave Kearney, Simon Zebo, Craig Gilroy, Keith Earls
Full-backs: Rob Kearney, Felix Jones
Photo Credit Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
