JORDAN LARMOUR HAS described his Ireland debut as a ‘dream come true’ after the 20-year-old’s remarkable rise continued on Saturday with an appearance off the bench against Italy.
The Leinster fullback/winger was introduced five minutes into the second half to replace the injured Robbie Henshaw, who suffered a suspected dislocated shoulder in the act of scoring Ireland’s fifth try in the 56-19 Six Nations victory at the Aviva Stadium.
With Keith Earls shifting into midfield, Larmour filled in on the right wing just six months after making his senior debut for Leinster and 12 months after starring for Ireland U20s.
“It felt amazing,” Larmour said post-match. “I’ve always wanted to put on the green jersey so it was a dream come true for me and having my family and friends here made it even more special.”
After all the build-up, Larmour appeared to be understandably nervous and will be disappointed by his effort for two of Italy’s tries down his side, although we did see a glimpse of his devastating footwork towards the end.
Having been starved of the ball on the wing, the former St Andrew’s College man roamed in-field to make a thrilling break, only to be denied a debut try by the covering Italian defenders.
“I just wanted to get my hands on the ball, had to come in for it,” he continued. “A dream come true as I said. Hopefully I get another opportunity to put it [the jersey] on.
“We had been working hard this week, a lot of plays learned and the boys put in a really good shift. There are a few things we can work on, a few soft tries we let in there that we’ll have to tidy up but delighted to get the win.”
Commenting on Larmour’s performance, and more specifically Italy’s second try when the winger was exposed defensively, Joe Schmidt said: “Jordan probably got slightly awkwardly positioned and that’s a fantastic learning opportunity for him. He’s such a good learner, such a positive character and I think that can be a real positive out of what will have been frustrating for him.
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