Nigel Carolan has named his Ireland Under-20s squad for the 2016 Six Nations.

Four players in the 30-man party remain from last year’s competition - Ulster’s Jacon Stockdale and Adam McBurney, Andrew Porter of Leinster and Connacht’s Conan O’Donnell.

Leinster and Lansdowne secondrow James Ryan will captain the side as they look to improve on a 2015 campaign which saw them finish second bottom after two wins and three defeats.

Ireland’s three home games are against Wales, Italy and Scotland, while they face tricky trips to play England and France.

On the announcement of his squad, Carolan said: “While we have just the four players returning from last season, we have been really impressed with the attitude and enthusiasm that the new guys have brought with them into the squad.

“We’ve had a number of camps with this group of players, as well as two warm up games against Leinster and Munster before Christmas, so now we are just looking forward to getting the championship started against Wales”

Ireland Under-20s Six Nations squad:

Forwards:

James Bollard (Dublin University / Leinster)

Kelvin Browne (Shannon / Munster)

Peter Claffey (Galwegians / Connacht)

Will Connors (UCD / Leinster)

Max Deegan (Lansdowne / Leinster)

Shane Fenton (Young Munster / Munster)

John Foley (Shannon / Munster)

Cillian Gallagher (Sligo RFC / Connacht)

Greg Jones (UCD / Leinster)

Conor Kenny (Buccaneers / Connacht)

Adam McBurney (Ballymena / Ulster)

Sean O’Connor (Cashel / Munster)

Conan O’Donnell (Sligo / Connacht)

Andrew Porter (UCD / Leinster)

James Ryan (Lansdowne / Leinster)

Dan Walsh (Cork Con / Munster)

Backs:

Matthew Byrne (Terenure / Leinster)

Brett Connon (Newcastle Falcons / Exlies)

Shane Daly (Cork Con / Munster)

Hugo Keenan (UCD / Leinster)

Terry Kennedy (St. Mary’s / Leinster)

Stephen Kerins (Sligo / Connacht)

Paul Kiernan (UCC / Munster)

Robert Lyttle (Queen’s University / Ulster)

Johnny McPhillips (Queen’s University / Ulster)

Conor O’Brien (Clontarf / Leinster)

Jimmy O’Brien (UCD / Leinster)

John Poland (Cork Con / Munster)

Jack Power (UCD / Leinster)

Jacob Stockdale (Belfast Harlequins / Ulster)

Fixtures:

Ireland U20s v Wales U20s

Donnybrook Stadium

Friday 5th February 2016

France U20s v Ireland U20s

Parc des Sports et de l’Amitié, Narbonne

Friday 12th February, 2016

England U20s v Ireland U20s

Kingston Park, Newcastle

Friday 26th February, 2016

Ireland U20s v Italy U20s

Donnybrook Stadium

Friday 11th March, 2016

Ireland U20s v Scotland U20s

Donnybrook Stadium

Friday 18th March, 2016