Andy Farrell explains Jimmy O'Brien inclusion in squad for New Zealand clash

Farrell also said Ryan, Earls and Henshaw would all be ready for a semi-final next weekend should Ireland overcome the All Blacks.

INCLUDED: Ireland's Jimmy O'Brien warming up ahead of the Autumn International match at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin. Picture date: Saturday November 5, 2022.

Jimmy O’Brien received a resounding vote of confidence from Andy Farrell after being handed a tournament debut for Saturday night’s World Cup quarter-final against New Zealand.

Both utility back O’Brien and 22-year-old lock Joe McCarthy were added to the Ireland bench for the return trip to Stade de France, replacing Stuart McCloskey and an injured James Ryan respectively.

For O’Brien, 26, it is belated opportunity to earn an eighth Ireland cap having injured a shoulder in the final warm-up Test against Samoa in Bayonne on August 26, though the Irish camp did not reveal that fitness problem until it was raised by the head coach yesterday following the announcement of the matchday 23 to face the All Blacks.

O’Brien’s inclusion comes after injury concerns for last weekend’s starting wings Mack Hansen (calf) and James Lowe (eye), neither of whom lasted until the second half, while another wing Keith Earls is still recovering from a hamstring issue, as is centre Robbie Henshaw.

Both Hansen and Lowe proved their fitness to remain in an unchanged starting line-up but having finished last Saturday’s game with scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park and centre Garry Ringrose playing as wings for the second half against Scotland, the Ireland boss explained why he had plumped for O’Brien’s adaptability off the bench rather than McCloskey, an out and out inside centre.

“What you don’t probably realise is that Jimmy got a knock on his shoulder during the Samoa game and he was certainly out for the first two games of the World Cup for us,” Farrell said.

“But there’s one thing about Jimmy O’Brien, he’s unbelievably smart, nice and cool and calm and collected. Unbelievably fit and he’s unbelievably good at fitting in in different positions.

“So with the little bit of disruption that we had at the start of the week, it just makes more sense for us to take up that option.”

McCarthy moves onto the bench for potentially his fifth Ireland cap having started against Romania in the Pool B opener in Bordeaux on September 7, and replaces James Ryan, who will miss the game due to a wrist injury.

“With James out, it leaves a spot there and just how he's progressed and his fight and his want to be involved is very evident to us all throughout, not just the pre-season and the warm-up games, but since he's not been playing over the last couple of weeks,” Farrell said of McCarthy.

“We keep seeing him grow the whole time and it's time for him to be out into a big game like this. He's certainly going to add to our performance when he comes off the bench.”

Farrell said Ryan, Earls and Henshaw would all be ready for a semi-final next weekend should Ireland overcome the All Blacks.

“People have always got injuries and bangs and knocks, and the start of the week is always ‘is this going to turn around?’ Some turnaround a lot quicker than you would expect etc. That’s just rugby and a general week.

“So, it is what it is and then as far as Keith Earls is concerned, it was a little too quick for him this week, so he’ll get back to the rehab. We’re very confident that if we push on through in the competition that he’ll be fir for next week.

“It was exactly the same with Robbie Henshaw, probably a little bit too soon. They’re progressing through, both of them, and James Ryan is out with a wrist injury that is being sorted. We expected to also be fit for next week if we’re able to get that far.”

The All Blacks are scheduled to name their team in eastern Paris at 6pm Irish time this evening.