Sean Jansen’s bid for Ireland World Cup spot begins against Argentina 

Sean Jansen’s bid for a place in Andy Farrell’s World Cup squad will get liftoff against Argentina.

Ireland's Sean Jansen at the IRFU Performance Centre, Blanchardstown. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Sean Jansen’s bid for a place in Andy Farrell’s World Cup squad will get the perfect launchpad 12 months out when he starts at No.8 for Ireland against Argentina on Friday night and the Connacht powerhouse is intent on embracing the opportunity.

Injuries to captain Caelan Doris and his Leinster team-mate Jack Conan may have deprived the head coach’s back row of 122 caps-worth of Test experience but Jansen, 27, is relishing his chance to impress after earning his third Ireland cap for the Nations Championship clash with Los Pumas at Aviva Stadium.

An impressive season with his province, the New Zealand-born, Irish-qualified player’s third since a move from Leicester Tigers, saw Jansen rewarded with a debut start against Japan in Australia last July and he followed it up with a run off the bench at Eden Park in defeat to the All Blacks a week later.

With the clock now ticking down in earnest to Ireland’s latest in for World Cup glory back in Australia next October, the back-rower is not hiding his ambition to build on his Test experiences to date and cement his place in Farrell’s thinking.

“I think, personally, it's something you've got to attack,” Jansen said. “The World Cup, as a kid watching rugby, it's the pinnacle of your career. If you can't get excited about that, there's not much that is going to excite you.

“So for me, it's just attacking this. It's the best opportunity. You've got the Nations Championship. You've got Six Nations, which is such a great competition. And then you've got the World Cup. It's a year of rugby that gets the hairs on the back of your neck standing up, so you've just got to attack it.

“You've got to keep building every week. You can't have a session where I turn up to training and I'm just going through the motions.

“We need to attack every moment, every session, every week. And we build into Argentina, you're building to Fiji, you know what I mean? It's just constant. And then by the time you come into the World Cup, we're flying.” 

So too the opportunity to fill the vacuum created by injuries to Ireland back-row stalwarts Doris and Conan.

“It's a great opportunity for me. I feel for the boys, especially Caelan, he has struggled with a few injuries. But personally, it's a great opportunity for me. So I'm just going to go out there and attack it the best I can.

“Take this opportunity because I want to be on the plane (to Australia). I want to get my Six Nations debut. I want to play these next four games and so on and so on.

“So I'm just going to attack it, attack it, get better every day, work as hard as I can. So I'll take that opportunity, you know what I mean?” There is also the chance to impress home supporters for the first time at Aviva Stadium and Jansen is viewing his selection this weekend as akin to a second Ireland debut.

“Getting my debut was massive playing Japan in Australia, but it wasn't a huge crowd. It wasn't a home crowd, even though it does feel like, especially in the Australia game when I was watching, it felt like it.

“But no, it's different being in the Aviva. I've watched a few games there, and it's completely different. I can't wait, hopefully, if selected, to get an opportunity to run out and play in front of the home crowd.”

Having lost to all three of their rivals in the top four of the World Rugby rankings in the past 12 months, fourth-ranked Ireland have been challenged by assistant coach Johnny Sexton to prove before the World Cup they are a team worthy of being considered contenders Down Under. A rematch with back-to-back world champions South Africa is looming in two weeks, 12 months on from a 24-13 Dublin humbling, while Ireland must avenge successive Six Nations defeats to the French when Les Bleus visit the Aviva next March 13 while last July’s 40-21 hammering by New Zealand has left Jansen and company with plenty of improvements to make if they are to convince as potential World Cup winners.

“As a team, we talk a lot about the fight line, whether that's when you hit contact, carry or tackle, you're winning that fight line,” Jansen said.

“(It’s) something I've taken into my club, something I've been working on a lot, and it's starting to show dividends, but we'll just keep working on it.” 

He added: “Everything's just done faster. You've got less time to think, less time to do, but the more you train, the more you do that, the more comfortable and the more used to it you are. Having that taste has just made me hungrier and want it more. It's been good.” 

Jansen laid out the mental and physical effort involved in improving his effectiveness on those fight lines.

“A lot of stuff I'd be doing in training, post-training, pre-training, where I'm working on my entry for tackle, I'm following my legs in. It's drills where I’m beating your man and carrying, but it's also a mindset thing.

“You've got to have a mindset, especially in defence, to get forward. Or for me, to carry, if I'm just carrying for the sake of carrying, if I'm going to try to run over your man.

“So it's definitely a combination, and I've been working on it loads in drills, which makes you more comfortable when you come to game time, but at the same time, if you don't have it up there, you're not going to do it on game day.

“We've got Gary (Keegan) who works with us, and he does a lot of mental stuff. So you're staying in the present, your mind's not split, you're not worried about this, or you're worried about a mistake you made.

“It's just playing freely, and I feel like when Ireland are at their best, they're playing free. You look like the ball's just moving so nicely. It's class to watch, so you've just got to get out of your own way.

“Faz says it a lot of the time that you get out of your own way, and sometimes, let's say you come into a tour and you might be nervous or whatever it is. It's just get out of your own way and just play free. Get over all your details, it comes game time, you just play free.”