Watch: Andy Farrell insists Munster's Tom Farrell 'thoroughly deserves' Ireland debut

IRELAND'S CALL-UP: Munster's Tom Farrell during the Investec Champions Cup match at Thomond Park.

Andy Farrell spoke of his delight at handing Munster’s Tom Farrell his Ireland debut against Japan this Saturday, six years after the centre left national camp empty-handed.

Tom Farrell will partner former Ireland Under-19 team-mate Robbie Henshaw in midfield at Aviva Stadium for a first Test appearance at the age of 32 in a team featuring eight changes from last Saturday’s defeat to New Zealand in Chicago.

Caelan Doris returns to captain the team from No.8 having made his comeback from a five-month injury absence off the bench against the All Blacks. There are eight changes altogether to the starting line-up with Craig Casey replacing Jamison Gibson-Park at scrum-half in an all-Munster half-back partnership with retained fly-half Jack Crowley while Jacob Stockdale earns a start on the left wing in place of James Lowe.

There is a chance for Thomas Clarkson at tighthead prop alongside promoted hooker Ronan Kelleher while Nick Timoney is handed a start at openside flanker and alongside Doris in the back row as the pair replace Josh van der Flier and Jack Conan.

It is Tom Farrell’s selection at outside centre, in for Garry Ringrose, that catches the eye, however and the head coach in naming his team on Thursday afternoon described it as a “Roy of the Rovers story”. The midfielder had joined Munster from Connacht at the start of last season having been released by the Westerners but made an instant impact on his new province and was voted player of the year by both his team-mates and supporters at the end of 2024-25.

Yet he missed selection for this summer’s tour games against Georgia and Portugal and was not included in Andy Farrell’s initial squad for this November. Tom Farrell was eventually called up as injury cover when Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw each received knocks prior to the start of Ireland camp two weeks and the Munster man will complete a remarkable journey to Test rugby in Dublin this weekend against the Japanese.

“I mentioned it to the squad yesterday and it was fantastic for me to do so, to stand him up in front of his peers and tell them the story,” the head coach said on Thursday afternoon.

“Six years ago now, Tom, I was obviously an assistant coach under Joe (Schmidt) and we brought him in for training camp and he never got selected. And six years later, here we are.

“He's at the ripe old age of 32 but playing his best rugby and 100 per cent deserves a shot. Not just for the form that he's shown over the last couple of seasons, but also how he's applied himself when he's come into camp. So, that's been very impressive.

“But the word resilience doesn't probably do it justice. He's kept on fighting and fighting and fighting and he gets to make his dream come true, which is play for Ireland in his debut on Saturday.”

Addressing Tom Farrell’s omission from the summer squad, the Ireland boss said: "The summer tour, you're obviously looking at young players that you can eexpose to that type of level and that type of game. He's always someone that we've seen as being a top quality centre.

"I suppose he's been pretty unfortunate in the sense that there's always been four centres who are pretty good who have been keeping him out there but his form has always been at the forefront of our mind and how he started the season.

“We had a contact type session on Saturday - because of the lack of contact that we've probably had at this stage of the season – in Chicago and that's when he's at his best. He's a lot stronger than what you think, he breaks the line, he runs good lines etc. And it's those type of sessions where you see his class come through.

“He's done very well, I would say the difference in experience counts a lot because how he's come in this time round and hit the ground running has been completely different to how he would have handled it six years ago.

"It would have been a little bit daunting, I would have thought. His confidence has come on because of his form and he thoroughly deserves his chance.”

The head coach explained the criteria for his multiple changes to face Tier Two opposition ahead of further Quilter Nations Series home Tests against Australia and South Africa.

“Obviously, everything gets thrown into the pot, doesn't it, in regards to selection when you're coming up with four big games and you throw a bit of travel in there.

“And at the stage of the season that it's at, everything gets thrown into the pot. But I suppose the lads that don't get a chance to play this weekend, they're the ones that's brimming to get back because coming back to Dublin on the back of a loss isn't nice.

“You always want to get back on the horse. But at the same time, the lads that get to go onto the field this weekend, they're the ones that have the chance to prove to the rest of them that they're mean business. So, yes, I suppose everything comes into play.”

IRELAND (v Japan): J Osborne (Naas/Leinster); T O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), T Farrell (Lansdowne/Munster), R Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster), J Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster); J Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster), C Casey (Shannon/Munster); A Porter (UCD/Leinster), R Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster), T Clarkson (Dublin University/Leinster); J Ryan (UCD/Leinster), T Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster); R Baird (Dublin University/Leinster), N Timoney (Banbridge/Ulster), C Doris (St Mary’s College/Leinster) – captain.

Replacements: G McCarthy (UCD/Leinster), P McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster), F Bealham (Corinthians/Connacht), C Prendergast (UCD/Connacht), J Conan (Old Belvedere/Leinster), C Blade (Galwegians/Connacht), S Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster), J O’Brien (Naas/Leinster).