Farrell names five from Kildare to start in Six Nations opener
Jeremy Loughman has impressed the coaches during Ireland's training camp in Portugal and has been rewarded with a place in the starting lineup against France. Photo: INPHO/Ben Brady
All five Kildare men available to Andy Farrell have been selected to start against France this Thursday night in Paris.
With a plethora of injuries befalling the Ireland squad, options were limited for Farrell and his coaches - yet they still managed to spring a few surprises.
The biggest question in Irish rugby ever since Jonathan Sexton called it a day after the last World Cup has been who the next ten will be. Suncroft's Sam Prendergast had been mooted to start this game, with Farrell tending to favour the Leinster man over the past year. There were major question marks over Prendergast, Jack Crowley and Harry Byrne, but ultimately the young Kildare fly half has been given the nod.
Tadhg Beirne is one of the first names on the team sheet, regardless whether it is with Ireland, Munster or the Lions, but it is something of a surprise to see him selected at lock rather than in the back row. James Ryan, as such, has been dropped to the bench, which will mean Beirne will be running the lineout in Paris as he partners Joe McCarthy in the second row.
The man to benefit from that selection is Cian Prendergast. The Connacht captain has been in fine form this season, and emerged as a real lineout threat for Ireland during the November Internationals. This is a big opportunity for Prendergast to lay down a marker as he hopes to nail down the Irish six jersey for the rest of this championship.
The Irish injury crisis has benefited two other Kildare men at two very different areas of the pitch.
With the first-, second- and third-choice looseheads all ruled out through injury (Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy and Jack Boyle), Farrell placed all his faith in the Munster basket. Mike Milne had been highly fancied to start in Paris, but the pressure of the number one jersey will instead fall on the shoulders of Jeremy Loughman. The Athy man has been preferred to Milne at provincial level over the past month or so, and is arguably the better scrummager - but this is his first cap since the 2024 Six Nations, and his international credentials will be tested on Thursday night like never before.
The final Kildare involvement sees Jamie Osborne selected at full back. With Hugo Keenan still on the sidelines and yet to play this season, as well as Ciaran Frawley being sent home from Portugal to spend the week in the Ireland XV camp, the options for the Irish 15 jersey was down to Osborne and Jacob Stockdale. Ulster winger, Stockdale, has been the form full back in Ireland this season, and Osborne has not played a minute of rugby since he was forced off the field with an injury against Japan back in November.
But Farrell and Co have decided to reward Stockdale's form with a place on the wing - with the out-of-form James Lowe surprisingly dropped - while Naas man, Osborne, has been entrusted to make a sensational return to the field, despite not kicking a ball for the last three months.
Ireland travel to the Stade de France for the Six Nations opener, which has a novel kick-off time of 8.10pm (Irish time) on THURSDAY night.
France are 13-point favourites to win the game, and outright favourites to win the championship as well. The Irish team tasked with this mammoth undertaking is as follows:
Jamie Osborne; Tommy O'Brien, Gary Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jeremy Loughman, Dan Sheehan, Tom Clarkson; Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Cian Prendergast, Josh Van Der Flier, Caelan Doris (c).
R Kelleher, M MIlne, F Bealham, J Ryan, J Conan, N Timoney, C Casey, J Crowley.
