RONAN CURTIS HAS admitted he was surprised to learn that he hadn’t been included in the Irish squad for the games against Azerbaijan and Qatar.
Before announcing his selection for the double-header earlier this month – which saw Ireland record 3-0 and 4-0 wins respectively – Ireland manager Stephen Kenny contacted Curtis to inform him of his omission.
The 25-year-old winger has earned four of his seven senior caps under Kenny, the last of which came in the summer friendly against Andorra.
However, the most recent squad picked by the Ireland boss didn’t feature the Portsmouth player, who has scored three times in 13 League One games this season.
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The former Derry City star gave his side a first-half lead in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Accrington Stanley, which leaves Pompey in 16th place.
“Putting on the Irish jersey is a proud moment for me and my family, so not being called up was disappointing,” Curtis told the Portsmouth News. “But my mind is not on that right now. I’m trying to sort Pompey out and get us to be the best that we can.
“To be honest, I was surprised at being dropped. I had scored a couple of goals and assisted a couple and didn’t get picked. But, to be fair to the lads, they did well when they were away and got the two wins. Hopefully next month we can get another couple.”
Ronan Curtis and Stephen Kenny pictured during an Ireland training session in June. Bagu Blanco / INPHO
Bagu Blanco / INPHO / INPHO
Despite his disappointment at missing out, Curtis praised Kenny for his handling of the situation, adding: “I was doing all right here [at Portsmouth], playing well, but the gaffer spoke to me and we had it out. He said some things, I said some things, and we came to an agreement and that was it, really.
“There were no harsh words involved, nothing like that. It was nice of him to ring to tell me that I wasn’t involved before the squad came out. It was good management from Stephen Kenny, I have a lot of respect for him because of that.”
Curtis will hope to play his way back into contention for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Portugal (11 November) and Luxembourg (14 November).
He said: “To get back [into the squad] I need to do the best I can on the pitch for Pompey and keep scoring goals, hopefully trying to get us promoted.”
Bernard Jackman, Murray Kinsella, and Gavan Casey assess the provinces’ first URC blocks and look ahead to November for the Ireland men’s and women’s teams on The42 Rugby Weekly:
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Ronan Curtis 'surprised' by being left out of Ireland squad
RONAN CURTIS HAS admitted he was surprised to learn that he hadn’t been included in the Irish squad for the games against Azerbaijan and Qatar.
Before announcing his selection for the double-header earlier this month – which saw Ireland record 3-0 and 4-0 wins respectively – Ireland manager Stephen Kenny contacted Curtis to inform him of his omission.
The 25-year-old winger has earned four of his seven senior caps under Kenny, the last of which came in the summer friendly against Andorra.
However, the most recent squad picked by the Ireland boss didn’t feature the Portsmouth player, who has scored three times in 13 League One games this season.
The former Derry City star gave his side a first-half lead in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Accrington Stanley, which leaves Pompey in 16th place.
“Putting on the Irish jersey is a proud moment for me and my family, so not being called up was disappointing,” Curtis told the Portsmouth News. “But my mind is not on that right now. I’m trying to sort Pompey out and get us to be the best that we can.
“To be honest, I was surprised at being dropped. I had scored a couple of goals and assisted a couple and didn’t get picked. But, to be fair to the lads, they did well when they were away and got the two wins. Hopefully next month we can get another couple.”
Despite his disappointment at missing out, Curtis praised Kenny for his handling of the situation, adding: “I was doing all right here [at Portsmouth], playing well, but the gaffer spoke to me and we had it out. He said some things, I said some things, and we came to an agreement and that was it, really.
“There were no harsh words involved, nothing like that. It was nice of him to ring to tell me that I wasn’t involved before the squad came out. It was good management from Stephen Kenny, I have a lot of respect for him because of that.”
Curtis will hope to play his way back into contention for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Portugal (11 November) and Luxembourg (14 November).
He said: “To get back [into the squad] I need to do the best I can on the pitch for Pompey and keep scoring goals, hopefully trying to get us promoted.”
Bernard Jackman, Murray Kinsella, and Gavan Casey assess the provinces’ first URC blocks and look ahead to November for the Ireland men’s and women’s teams on The42 Rugby Weekly:
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
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COYBIG international duty Ireland Ronan Curtis Stephen Kenny Portsmouth