Paddy Wallace will be a fly-half option for Ireland A

Paddy Wallace, Rory Best and Marcus Horan have all been included in the 22-man Ireland A squad for Sunday's game against the England Saxons in Bath.

Wallace's inclusion in the A squad does not automatically mean that he will not feature in the Six Nations opener against Italy on 6 February.

Indeed, the Irish selectors may use the Saxons game as an opportunity to see Wallace in action at fly-half.

Best and Horan will both be looking for game time after recent injury lay-offs.

Wallace was Brian O'Driscoll's regular centre partner during last year's Grand Slam campaign.

However, Gordon D'Arcy has been pressing hard to regain his starting spot while Andrew Trimble is also in contention after some impressive recent performances for Ulster.

Ulster players Isaac Boss, Darren Cave, Ryan Caldwell and Ian Humphreys have also been named in the Ireland A squad.

An IRFU statement said that the squad included players who have "recently made their returns from injury or who will be looking to increase their competitive game time ahead of the Six Nations".

Wallace has been troubled by an ankle injury in recent weeks but played a full game in Ulster's weekend win over Bath, when he scored a try.

606: DEBATE Think Paddy Wallace is there for cover for Humphreys and not as a centre full_point

Horan made his return to Munster duty when coming on as a replacement in Friday's win over Northampton.

The prop was out of rugby for more than two months after undergoing an operation to correct an irregular heartbeat in October.

Best recently returned to full-time training with Ulster and played for Banbridge in the AIB League at the weekend having recovered following neck surgery.

Denis Hurley has been included in the squad even though he remains a doubt for Sunday's game because of a leg injury.

Hurley was a late withdrawal from Munster's Heineken Cup clash against Northampton.

The A squad also includes Peter Stringer, Mick O'Driscoll and Sean O'Brien.

Meanwhile, a number of players were rested from Ireland senior squad training on Tuesday.

Donncha O'Callaghan (knee), Sean Cronin (sprained ankle) and Stephen Ferris (shin) missed the session but none of the injuries are believed to be serious.

Ronan O'Gara, Gordon D'Arcy, Jonathan Sexton and Shane Horgan were also rested from Tuesday's training.

Ireland A squad: Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster), Isaac Boss (Ballymena/Ulster), Tony Buckley (Shannon/Munster), Darren Cave (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), Ryan Caldwell (Dungannon/Ulster), Ian Dowling (Shannon/Munster), John Fogarty (De La Salle Palmerston/Leinster), Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster), Ian Humphreys (Ballymena/Ulster), Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution/Munster), Shane Jennings (St.Mary's College/Leinster), Keith Matthews (Buccaneers/Connacht), John Muldoon (Galwegians/Connacht), Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster), Johne Murphy (Leicester), Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster), Sean O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster), Niall Ronan (Shannon/Munster), Mike Ross (Clontarf/Leinster), Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster), Devin Toner (Lansdowne/Leinster), Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version