{"id":6571,"date":"2026-01-22T17:48:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/?p=6571"},"modified":"2026-01-22T17:48:03","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:48:03","slug":"six-nations-2026-doaks-revival-strength-in-depth-ulsters-form-ireland-squad-talking-points","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/?p=6571","title":{"rendered":"Six Nations 2026: Doak’s revival, strength in depth & Ulster’s form – Ireland squad talking points"},"content":{"rendered":"


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While Henderson is a notable omission, he is not the only big name missing from last year’s Six Nations squad. <\/p>\n

The injuries to key players like Porter, Henshaw and Baird are a blow, while Peter O’Mahony, Cian Healy and Conor Murray have all retired. <\/p>\n

The average caps of last year’s squad under interim head coach Simon Easterby was 44.1. <\/p>\n

This year, that has fallen to 28.4 as Farrell returns following his stint with the British and Irish Lions.<\/p>\n

In terms of Henderson, Ferris added that there was “young blood snapping at the heels” of the Ulster second row, but he believes the 33-year-old could have a role to play in the wider squad with his experience.<\/p>\n

Munster’s Edogbo will add an exciting presence for the forward pack, while Tom Ahern and Cian Prendergast are also exciting options.<\/p>\n

“Is this the changing of the guard? Is this Andy Farrell wanting to bring in some of the younger guys?” Ferris said.<\/p>\n

“They might be some of the guys he wants to call upon at the next World Cup.”<\/p>\n

Farrell said Ireland know they have “to hit the ground running” in Paris on 5 February.<\/p>\n

“The squad has evolved over the last 18 months, with 12 players making their international debuts over the last year alone, and I know how keen this group is to make its mark for Ireland,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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While Henderson is a notable omission, he is not the only big name missing from last year’s Six Nations squad. The injuries to key players like Porter, Henshaw and Baird are a blow, while Peter O’Mahony, Cian Healy and Conor Murray have all retired. The average caps of last year’s squad under interim head coach<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rugby"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outdoorthrill.cfd\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}