Rob Herring and Noel Reid have been cut from the Ireland squad ahead of the Rugby World Cup.
Coach Joe Schmidt is expected to name his 31-man party before the end of the month.
More players are due to be sent home in the coming weeks following the departures of hooker Herring and centre Reid.
"Two guys have gone back to their provinces this week and over the next while it'll be an ongoing process," Ireland assistant coach Richie Murphy is quoted as saying by PlanetRugby.com.
"We're not here just to cut players and get rid of them though. When we feel we're in a really good position, guys will feed back to their clubs."
Ireland started their preparations for the Rugby World Cup on Saturday with a 35-21 win over Wales in Cardiff.