{"id":545400,"date":"2026-07-12T04:20:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T04:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/545400\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T04:20:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T04:20:18","slug":"andy-farrell-how-sean-jansen-attacked-the-game-as-a-debutant-its-a-learning-for-everyone-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/545400\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Farrell: \u2018How Sean Jansen attacked the game as a debutant, it\u2019s a learning for everyone\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Farrell<\/a> admitted that the 36-20 scoreline in Ireland\u2019s favour at the end of their bonus-point win over Japan<\/a> in Newcastle may have flattered his side a little. Against that he maintained the mitigating circumstances of blooding four new players in a rejigged side which, by extension, also made this an invaluable exercise on the road to next year\u2019s Rugby World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe scoreline is the scoreline and that\u2019s the reality, but it flattered us probably a little bit, especially with the stop-start nature of the game, with the errors and stuff like that. But I was just saying to the lads \u2013 that happens in sport, especially when you tinker a lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put them under a lot of pressure as coaches this week with all the changes, different combinations, lads not playing for a long time and all of that. So all in all, with the experience that they have got and all the learnings and the takeaways, it\u2019s a good night at the office for us, because there\u2019s a lot to take.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Reaction: Ireland run in five tries as they beat Japan<\/p>\n

The standout individual in a somewhat laboured collective display was assuredly Sean Jansen<\/a>, the Kiwi-born, Connacht number eight who caught the eye with his very first two impacts on either side of the ball and went on to score a try in a bravura, man-of-the-match debut.<\/p>\n

Agreeing that it was an \u201ceducational\u201d game, Farrell said: \u201cFor example, you look at the four debutants. How Sean Jansen actually attacked the game, as a debutant, it\u2019s a learning for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to get the man of the match and play as he did first up is a massive credit to him. So, that\u2019s great learnings for anyone coming in.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then, for the set-piece to be under pressure, the scrum, for Sam and Billy to come on and to feel and cope with all that. Some good, some bad, but the learnings that they get from that is absolutely priceless.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven Sam and Billy in the carry sometimes \u2013 you feel the difference between the URC and international rugby. Same for Bryn [Ward]. They\u2019ll use that and kick on. And others having the chance to wear the shirt after a while in positions that they want to play; there\u2019s all sorts of stuff going on there that we can talk about in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always a risk doing this but a calculated one that\u2019s going to pay for us whether we won or not today. It just so happens that we got a bonus-point win and we roll on to a special week next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eddie Jones had raised the stakes on Thursday by saying he looked forward to seeing his Japanese pack \u201cdominate\u201d the Irish scrum, especially in the second half, which was obviously a pointed reference toward the inexperienced Bohan and Illo.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got told that they were going to batter us in the second-half in the scrum,\u201d noted Farrell. \u201cBut that\u2019s brilliant for Billy to feel that and to hear that and to go on and compete. And Sam and Tom Stewart as well \u2013 not many caps, for them to feel that experience.<\/p>\n

\"Ireland'sIreland’s Sean Jansen celebrates with Sam Illo after the game. Photograph: Ben Brady\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it\u2019s a Test match and they\u2019re all there to be won. We\u2019re playing for Ireland? It matters. If we don\u2019t give them the time and the experience, then what\u2019s it all for? They rode it out.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could talk about whether the scoreline flattered us or not but it\u2019s the reality and we\u2019ll take that and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if taking Jansen off on the hour along with Jack Conan was a pointer toward the Connacht man being involved next week, perhaps as an impact replacement, Farrell revealed that he had \u201ca stinger\u201d in his shoulder. He also wanted to give Cormac Izuchukwu and Bryn Ward, Ireland\u2019s fourth debutant on the night, significant game time.<\/p>\n

As for Ciar\u00e1n Frawley on his first start at outhalf, Farrell said he \u201csome really good stuff and looked a real threat, especially early doors with ball in hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

He felt Frawley\u2019s missed conversion could have affected him adversely but \u201che rode that pretty well\u201d, adding: \u201cI also thought that Harry came on and did pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also felt Bundee Aki brought \u201ca bundle of energy off the bench that\u2019s for sure, but I thought Robbie Henshaw was great tonight as well. Certainly defensively, he was back to being himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tadhg Beirne, after being appointed Ireland captain for the first time, said it was imperative to mark the four debuts with a win.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s huge for the group. It\u2019s great for young lads get their first cap but it\u2019s also great to see the performances they put in during the week. It\u2019s a special week for them and it was on us as a group to make sure it was a special night for them in terms of getting the win. It was a hard-fought win tonight but we managed to do that for those four boys and for Ronan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beirne was not remotely surprised by Jansen\u2019s impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been doing it in training. He\u2019s fitted into what we\u2019re trying to do unbelievably well over the last couple of weeks,\u201d said Beirne, \u201cHe\u2019s been doing it all year for Connacht as well. So credit to him. He just did exactly what he\u2019s been doing for the last 12 months. I\u2019m delighted for him to get man of the match and delighted for him to have such a good first cap.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Farrell admitted that the 36-20 scoreline in Ireland\u2019s favour at the end of their bonus-point win over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":545401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[25747,42,1449,86133,43,231300,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-545400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-andy-farrell","tag-headlines","tag-ireland-rugby","tag-nations-championship","tag-news","tag-sean-jansen","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545400","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=545400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/545400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=545400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=545400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=545400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}