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Published 13:30 2 Jun 2016 BST
Updated 15:13 2 Jun 2016 BST
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RETIRED: Felix Jones, Paul O'Connell, Gordon D'Arcy. INJURED/RESTED: Rob Kearney, Dave Kearney, Johnny Sexton, Luke Fitzgerald, Tommy Bowe, Simon Zebo, Marty Moore, Cian Healy, Sean O'Brien, Tommy O'Donnell, Peter O'Mahony, Tommy O'Donnell, Sean O'Brien. OUT OF FAVOUR: Darren Cave, Fergus McFadden, Noel Reid, Chris Henry, Dan Tuohy, Rob Herring, Isaac Boss, Michael Bent, Jack Conan.Also out of the tour are Denis Buckley, Nathan White, Josh van der Flier, Stuart McCloskey and Andrew Conway. Make that 30 men missing from the series and that's without the likes of Connacht's Eoin McKeon, Niyi Adeolokun and more. The load heaped upon the players' shoulders is simply too much to bear.
Asked about heading into his 12th month of the 2015/16 season, Ireland vice captain Jamie Heaslip said:
"That's the way it is. You know in a World Cup season it's going to be long, it's going to be hard. But they manage us. For the first time ever I had four weeks off without a game. "Not long after the Six Nations, now that's because we weren't in Europe which wasn't great, but I got a nice little booster. I had a week off and three weeks of good... not on the pitch, just training in the gym getting the body back healthy and ready to go. "We knew it'd be a long year and it's just exciting at this end of the season. It can be long, playing those games in the middle of winter can be tough going, but the sun in shining, you're going to a great country like South Africa and it's really easy, mentally, to be there."Here's the kit-bag, here's your tickets. One more tour, three more games. 22 men are gone from the training squad Schmidt named 11 months ago. How many more from that original list will make it to the final whistle of that third Test? That's the way it is.
Fans tear into Leo Cullen after the Leinster boss slams media actions
A war of words! Following Leinster’s defeat of Toulon yesterday, head coach Leo Cullen took advantage of the situation to rub it into what he perceives as an unfair media. Despite continued appearances in Champions Cup finals and a semi-final loss to Northampton last year, as well as URC titles, Leinster do face their fair […]
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Brilliant footage shows Toulon doing training drills on Dublin street ahead of Leinster loss
This is great! Ahead of their Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster this afternoon at the Aviva Stadium, Toulon were seen training in a rather unusual spot. Instead of a field or the gym, they were filmed on a Dublin street doing maul drills, while others causally tossed the ball around. It is unclear exactly where […]
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Live sport on TV in Ireland this weekend – Football, GAA, Rugby – April 24th to 26th
Rugby