Ireland tour of New Zealand
O'Connell ruled out of June Tests
ESPN Staff
May 31, 2012
Ireland captain Paul O'Connell, France v Ireland, Six Nations, Stade de France, Paris, France, February 11, 2012
Paul O'Connell will sit out Ireland's trip to New Zealand © Getty Images
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Ireland have suffered a huge blow ahead of their three-Test tour with New Zealand after Paul O'Connell failed his fitness test.

The second-row has now been ruled out of the entire tour with Connacht's Mike McCarthy stepping into the void. O'Connell had been undergoing rehabilitation on his knee injury in an attempt to make a recovery in time to take his place on the plane to New Zealand but his progress has not been as rapid as previously hoped.

Ireland squad:

Forwards: Rory Best (Ulster), Sean Cronin (Leinster), Declan Fitzpatrick (Ulster), Cian Healy (Leinster), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster), Chris Henry (Ulster), Ronan Loughney (Connacht), Kevin McLaughlin (Leinster), Mike McCarthy (Connacht), Sean O'Brien (Leinster), Donnacha O'Callaghan (Munster), Peter O'Mahony (Munster), Mike Ross (Leinster), Donnacha Ryan (Munster), Mike Sherry (Munster), Dan Tuohy (Ulster), Brett Wilkinson (Connacht)

Backs: Darren Cave (Ulster), Gordon D'Arcy (Leinster), Keith Earls (Munster), Rob Kearney (Leinster), Paul Marshall (Ulster), Fergus McFadden (Leinster), Conor Murray (Munster), Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster), Ronan O'Gara (Munster), Eoin Reddan (Leinster), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster), Andrew Trimble (Ulster), Simon Zebo (Munster)

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