Kildare's Joey Carbery and James Tracy named in Irish squad for All-Blacks clash in Chicago

He may have only made his debut for Leinster at the beginning of last month, but Athy 20-year-old Joey Carbery has been so impressive for the province so far this season, he has earned a call up to Joe Schmidt's Irish squad for the trip to Chicago.

They will face the might of New Zealand in the Windy City, and the All-Blacks will be looking to secure a 19th successive win having already broken the previous record of 18 wins by defeating Australia last weekend. Carbery, a native of New Zealand, is unlikely to see game time in the States, but it is a massive vote of confidence for the much heralded youngster.

Another Kildare man who has show immense progress in the last six months is James Tracy, and the young hooker has been rewarded with a place in the 34-man squad. With just Rory Best and Sean Cronin ahead of him in the pecking order, an injury to either of those two would guarantee Tracy some game time.

The two Kildare men join Billy Holland, Luke McGrath, Garry Ringrose and John Ryan as first time inclusions in the squad.

Ireland Head Coach, Joe Schmidt commented, "Selections were difficult as always; trying to balance form, fitness, experience, combinations plus assess those players returning from injury or those carrying minor knocks or strains.

With more than half the squad likely to be involved in Pro12 action this weekend, plus the need to factor in the travel and fatigue from the Chicago fixture, there are also a number of players on standby who are likely to be involved during the first two weeks of the Guinness Series.”

Ireland Squad for New Zealand (Chicago) Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht) Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster) captain Joey Carbery (Clontarf/Leinster)* Sean Cronin (St Marys/Leinster) Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht) Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster) Tadgh Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) Craig Gilroy (Ulster) Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) Jamie Heaslip (Dublin University/Leinster) vice captain Iain Henderson (Ballynahinch/Ulster) Robbie Henshaw (Leinster) Billy Holland (Cork Constitution/Munster)* Paddy Jackson (Dungannon/Ulster) Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster) Kieran Marmion (Buccaneers/Connacht) Luke Marshall (Ulster) Jack McGrath (St Marys/Leinster) Luke McGrath (UCD/Leinster)* Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Leinster) Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) Sean O'Brien (UCD/Leinster) Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) Jared Payne (Ulster) Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster)* Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster) John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster)* Jonathan Sexton (St Marys/Leinster) CJ Stander (Munster) Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster) James Tracy (UCD/Leinster)* Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster) Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution/Munster)