{"id":552898,"date":"2026-07-16T15:38:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T15:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/552898\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T15:38:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T15:38:11","slug":"andy-farrell-named-2-ireland-outsiders-who-could-star-v-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/552898\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Farrell Named 2 Ireland Outsiders Who Could Star v New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Farrell believes two players on the fringe of a typical Ireland matchday 23 could be difference-makers in Saturday’s crunch clash against New Zealand at Eden Park.<\/p>\n

Farrell named his Ireland team late on Wednesday night Irish time<\/a>, with nine changes to the heavily-rotated XV which started last weekend’s win over Japan.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Recommended\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The task ahead of Ireland is a daunting one. No visiting team has won at Eden Park since 1994<\/a>, with New Zealand winning all but two of their tests in Auckland in that time.<\/p>\n

Among those returning to the Ireland starting XV are Tadhg Beirne, Tadhg Furlong, and Jamison Gibson-Park, but there are still plenty of big names missing through injury.<\/p>\n

Mack Hansen remains sidelined in a season riddled with injuries for the Connacht man, while James Lowe’s Leinster departure has left him unavailable on the wing. Rob Baloucoune’s return is a boost, but Farrell remains without Tommy O’Brien or Calvin Nash, in addition to the losses of Hansen and Lowe.<\/p>\n

Ireland boast plenty of depth in the back row, but the absence of captain Caelan Doris at 8 is perhaps the most conspicuous in the whole squad.<\/p>\n

With openings in both the back three and the back row, Andy Farrell has singled out two unexpected men he believes could make a major difference in Auckland on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Farrell highlights O’Brien and Jansen
\n\"\"1 November 2025; Ireland head coach Andy Farrell before the Gallagher Cup match between Ireland and New Zealand at Soldier Field in Chicago, USA. Photo by Ramsey Cardy\/Sportsfile<\/p>\n

In the absence of Mack Hansen, Tommy O’Brien, Calvin Nash, and James Lowe, Andy Farrell has opted to start Leinster’s Jimmy O’Brien on the wing for this weekend’s test against New Zealand.<\/p>\n

29-year-old O’Brien has won just 13 caps for Ireland despite impressive consistency at provincial level, and Farrell hopes to see the Leinster star replicate his club form on Saturday.<\/p>\n

“I think you guys have reported it as well, he’s been in great form,” Farrell told Irish reporters in Auckland.<\/p>\n

He’s gone from stop-start really for Leinster over the course of a season and not really nailing down any type of genuine spot, whether it be full-back or wing or centre or whatever.<\/p>\n

But for us, over the last three or four weeks, it’s been obvious that he’s been really on top of his game and he’s been in great form. Obviously, there’s pressure within itself playing for your country and he deals with those pressures superbly well.<\/p>\n

Another man who could make a big impact off the bench is Connacht’s Sean Jansen.<\/p>\n

The New Zealand-born star made an exceptional impact on his Ireland debut against Japan last week<\/a>, and has been rewarded with a place on the bench against the nation of his birth.<\/p>\n

Andy Farrell said he had no doubt the back-row star could make a massive impact when called upon at Eden Park.<\/p>\n

I’ve heard how he’s gone about his business backing himself to go overseas, first at Leicester and then on to Connacht. He’s been unbelievably consistent, and not just consistent, but some top performances, certainly for Connacht this year. He’s backed that up at Test level, so I don’t think he’ll be overawed by what’s in front of him at all. He’ll just be himself.<\/p>\n

I obviously said after the [Japan] game that he’s a fantastic example of how to nail your debut. And basically he’s just been himself.<\/p>\n

He doesn’t let the game or the thought of a first cap or anything like that get in the way of producing what he knows he’s all about. And you just know he’s going to be able to do that again on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Farrell believes two players on the fringe of a typical Ireland matchday 23 could be difference-makers in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[25747,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-552898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-andy-farrell","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552898","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=552898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}