{"id":541521,"date":"2026-07-09T19:42:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/541521\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T19:42:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:42:13","slug":"four-debutants-highlights-fresh-focus-from-farrell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/541521\/","title":{"rendered":"Four debutants highlights fresh focus from Farrell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ask and you shall receive will be the message this week as Andy Farrell rolls the dice with a refreshed and exciting Ireland 23 named to face Japan on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Ireland head coach has made nine changes to his starting side<\/a>, with four debutants selected in the matchday squad.<\/p>\n

Of that, eight squad members have less than 15 test caps, with Bundee Aki making up the lion’s share of appearances in green among the youthful replacements bench.<\/p>\n

It serves as the most new caps in an Irish matchday squad coached by Andy Farrell since 2021, and the most outside of a ‘Lions summer’ since 2020.<\/p>\n

A tactical shift perhaps with one eye on next year’s Rugby World Cup, but one that will be welcomed with open arms nonetheless.<\/p>\n

\"13
\nJansen has been in rip-roaring form for Connacht<\/p>\n

The only new man in the starting side is Connacht’s Sean Jansen, who wears the number eight shirt, as Jack Conan shifts to the blindside flank.<\/p>\n

Having just turned 27, Jansen is the latest player to be fast tracked upon arrival, having qualified to play for Ireland with grandparents hailing from Belfast and Monasterevin respectively.<\/p>\n

Born in Dunedin in New Zealand, the abrasive back-rower joined Connacht from Leicester Tigers<\/a> in 2023, after two seasons with the English club.<\/p>\n

His first season in Galway was stop-start, playing just eight times under Pete Wilkins, before coming into his own of late.<\/p>\n

Jansen’s good form last season earned him a starting shirt as Ireland XV were defeated by England A in February of 2025<\/a>, while he also led Connacht to the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup.<\/p>\n

This season is where he really started to flourish however, backed by and earning the trust of Stuart Lancaster.<\/p>\n

Jansen’s breakout campaign saw him play 20 times for the province, scoring 12 tries, and again featuring for Ireland XV against England A.<\/p>\n

\"25
\nBilly Bohan has had a dream year<\/p>\n

The second of three potential Connacht debutants listed has had a meteoric rise to a test shirt this season.<\/p>\n

Having only turned 20 midway through November, Billy Bohan is in line to become the youngest prop Ireland have capped this century.<\/p>\n

Hailing from Kildare and having attended Newbridge College, Bohan is the grandson of former Ireland head coach Mick Doyle and comes from elite rugby stock.<\/p>\n

He joined the academy in the summer of 2025, following a difficult year for the Ireland Under-20 squad that year.<\/p>\n

However, Bohan quickly put that behind him and put his best foot forward at Connacht, impressing Stuart Lancaster and Cullie Tucker before being handed his debut in green in a Challenge Cup win over Black Lion<\/a> in December.<\/p>\n

An impactful January as Connacht’s starting loosehead led to his first Ireland call-up prior to the Six Nations<\/a>, due to injuries to Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy and Jack Boyle.<\/p>\n

He would represent Ireland XV in their loss to England in Limerick in early February, and would go on to finish the season as Connacht’s starter with 16 appearances, plus an early promotion to the senior squad from next season, after just one year in the academy.<\/p>\n

\"18
\nSam Illo has been tipped as a future international for quite some time<\/p>\n

Also set to win his debut alongside his Connacht compadre, is the explosive tighthead prop Sam Illo.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old went to school in Wesley College in Dublin where he was recognised as a powerful athlete, and served as a cornerstone during the 2021 Under-20 Six Nations under Richie Murphy, starting four of the five games.<\/p>\n

Having impressed there, he was snapped up by Connacht later that summer on a senior contract, bypassing the academy programme.<\/p>\n

Illo made his debut for Connacht in January 2022 in a defeat to Stade Francais over in Paris<\/a>, and would earn his first start almost a year later in a Challenge Cup win away to Brive.<\/p>\n

2025\/26 has been Illo’s breakout campaign however, playing 18 times and scoring two tries.<\/p>\n

\"10
\nBryn Ward is the latest Ireland Under-20 prospect to rise through the ranks<\/p>\n

The last of the quartet named on the press release is an Ulster starlet primed for great things in green.<\/p>\n

Bryn Ward, who’s dad Andy and brother Zac also represented the province, is set to join an illustrious list of Ballynahinch club men and women who have gone on to wear the green of Ireland.<\/p>\n

Set to turn 22 the day before Ireland take on New Zealand in the final game of the tour, Ward is another player who has earned his way into the green shirt this season.<\/p>\n

An Ulster Schools Cup winner with RBAI in 2023, Ward was called up to the Ireland Under-20 squad under Richie Murphy the following year, impressing in an elite back-row rotation that featured Se\u00e1n Edogbo and Brian Gleeson among others.<\/p>\n

Ward spent the 2024\/25 season primarily playing in the Energia AIL before winning his debut cap for Ulster against the Lions<\/a> last October.<\/p>\n

There was no looking back from there as he would go on to play 21 times as Ulster qualified for the Challenge Cup final.<\/p>\n

\n

Listen to the RT\u00c9 Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts<\/a>, Spotify<\/a> or wherever you get your podcasts<\/a>, and email us at sportpodcasts@rte.ie<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ask and you shall receive will be the message this week as Andy Farrell rolls the dice with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":541522,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-541521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=541521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/541521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/541522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=541521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=541521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=541521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}