Uncapped Ulster back-row forward James McNabney has been named in the Ireland squad for the upcoming Nations Championship fixtures in November.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell described the 23-year-old as “some specimen of a man” when announcing the squad. McNabney is one of two uncapped players included, along with his Ulster teammate Jamie Benson.

McNabney, from Ballymena in County Antrim, has had a disrupted path to international recognition. He was brought into a development camp in Portugal ahead of the 2025 Six Nations and was set for a similar role before the summer tour to Georgia and Portugal, but suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in training, ruling him out for the entire season.

Despite the setback, McNabney has impressed at provincial level. He made his senior debut for Ulster against Glasgow Warriors in November 2023 and started 14 of the province's 17 games in the 2023-24 season, featuring as a blindside flanker and number eight. Ulster upgraded him from a development contract to a senior deal in 2025.

McNabney has a strong underage international pedigree. He was part of the Ireland under-20 team that won the Six Nations Grand Slam in 2022, starting three games and appearing off the bench in a fourth. He played in the World Junior Championship that summer. The following season he won another under-20 Grand Slam, playing 380 of 400 minutes alongside Munster's Ruadhán Quinn and Brian Gleeson, and scoring tries against Italy and Scotland.

Before committing fully to rugby, McNabney had a background in equestrian sport, particularly Mounted Games, which he described as agility on horseback or relay racing on horses. He represented Northern Ireland at the Royal Windsor Horse Show and was on a Great Britain team for a year. He decided to focus on rugby as a teenager due to the physical demands of the sport.

McNabney is expected to get his opportunity at senior international level in November after impressing Farrell in an Ireland alignment camp in August.