IRELAND HEAD COACH Andy Farrell hailed the impact of the debutants in his side’s 50-17 Six Nations victory over Italy.
Openside flanker Will Connors was named man of the match after his try-scoring performance, while left wing Hugo Keenan bagged a brace of tries in a typically hard-working display.
Loosehead prop Ed Byrne and scrum-half Jamison Gibson-Park also won their first caps off the Ireland bench, but Connors and Keenan certainly stole the show for Ireland.
Connors completed 20 tackles and 10 carries in an impactful performance, while Keenan made eight strong tackles, as well as beating four defenders to score his two tries.
“I thought they excellent,” said Farrell post-match. “Superb. We asked them to be themselves and not just hope that things go well. You’ve got to create stuff and be yourself and back yourself and I thought every one of them to a man did that.
“Obviously, Hugo and Will got to play the full game and their work ethic was fabulous. It’s what we would expect of them and what we see them doing week in and week out. It would be interesting to see Hugo’s GPS and Will’s tackle count.
“The energy that they gave the side was exactly what we wanted of them and for Ed to come off the bench and get stuck in, not just try to fit in and hope that things go well.
“Jamo [Gibson-Park] came on and hit a nice little kick over the defensive line, that was great. To see them all was great and they kept the continuity going. It’s great to get them all underway and I’m sure those are the first of many.”
Ireland captain Johnny Sexton was similarly full of praise for the 24-year-old Leinster duo Connors and Keenan.
“They typified our performance in terms of our energy, those two guys led it in many ways,” said Sexton.
“Will has so much energy to get off the line and make tackles but you can’t just label him as that because he did some really good things with ball in hand as well.
“Hugo got a couple of tries and could have had another one, a couple of outstanding finishes. The edge he provided, that work off the ball, ball in the air, all the things you’d expect of a top-class back three player, he provided those. I’m delighted for him.
“There’s some big competition in and around him. The team we were playing against on Wednesday in training was pretty impressive – James Lowe and Keith Earls on the wings, Robbie Henshaw and Chris Farrell and Stuart McCloskey floating in there, some big competition in the backs.
“Then you have Josh [van der Flier] and Will going at it in the back row and that’s what we want – competition and people pushing each other.”
Keenan himself expressed delight at making his Ireland debut alongside his good friend Connors.
“Will is one of my best mates, our dads get on very well together and we made our European Cup debuts together against Saracens about a month ago,” said Keenan.
“We have grown up together and it was really special to make the debut together. Seeing him go so well, win the man of the match, put in so many tackles, it is just great to see.
“It was an unbelievable experience, the stuff of dreams. The lads put in some shift and made it easy for me, so to have two tries as well was something special.”