Kidney has also selected several players who missed Ireland’s summer tour to New Zealand, including Paul O’Connell – who captained Ireland during last year’s RBS 6 Nations – and Stephen Ferris.

And while O’Connell is one of a number of players who has not yet played this season, Kidney insists it was important to get his players together ahead of the matches against South Africa, Fiji and Argentina.

He said: "At this stage of the season it is about building foundations for the Guinness Series and it is vital to get the players together to do that.

"A number of them have yet to play, but it was important to include some of them from a positional sense for this camp, such as Paul (O'Connell) and Rory (Best), as well as other players who missed the summer tour.

“There are a number of players who are not included due to injuries and will continue their rehab and their preseason work in their provinces."