THEY WON’T HAVE to rouse themselves in the wee hours back in New Zealand.
As Sean Jansen gets set for his second Test start for Ireland against Argentina on Friday night in Dublin, his family and friends on the other side of the world can look forward to watching the game with breakfast at 9.10am on Saturday morning.
Everyone from Dunedin’s Green Island RFC and North Otago will be glued to the TV to see if Jansen can kick on from his breakthrough summer with Ireland.
The Connacht number eight made his debut against Japan in the first window of this Nations Championship campaign, earning the player of the match award and a place on the bench against the All Blacks at Eden Park the following weekend.
It was a disappointing night for Ireland in Auckland, but it was still special for Jansen to face the haka and play against his native New Zealand in front of a big group of his loved ones.
Now, Jansen is set for his first home Test with Ireland as he looks forward to another milestone in his unique career.
The 27-year-old starts at number eight in the absence of Caelan Doris and Jack Conan, who are both injured. This wasn’t really a selection debate in the end, partly because there don’t seem to be many other number eight options who Farrell rates, but mainly because Jansen made such a dent last summer.
Not only did his obviously impressive collision-winning for Connacht transfer into the Ireland set-up, but Jansen impressed the Irish coaching staff with his ability to pick things up quickly.
They had been keeping a close eye on Jansen since his arrival into Irish rugby with Connacht in 2023, taking him on the Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa in 2024.
“I think what stood out was probably his diligence,” says Ireland forwards coach Paul O’Connell, who was part of that Emerging tour.
Jansen on the Emerging Ireland tour in 2024. Steve Haag Sports / Darren/INPHO
Steve Haag Sports / Darren/INPHO / Darren/INPHO
“Maybe when you look at a guy, I’m not sure what he has going on with his hair at the moment, but he generally has some kind of a rat’s tail or some kind of a something, and you’re kind of wondering what kind of a character you’re going to meet, but he was incredibly diligent.”
Jansen played for the Ireland A team in 2025, and his ever-improving performances with Connacht made him impossible to ignore.
He got his senior call-up for the tour to Australia and New Zealand a few months ago and has continued to improve.
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Jansen’s ability to win collisions on both sides of the ball could be important against a powerful Pumas team on Friday night, although there is more to his game.
“He isn’t just a guy that has some big carries and some big moments,” is how O’Connell puts it after praising Jansen’s ability to keep developing his game.
“Sometimes the guys that are really physical just rely on that and they’re not so diligent. Or sometimes the guys that are really diligent aren’t as physical as they probably could be or should be. And I think he has both.
“You don’t have to tell him anything twice. If you say something to him and he understands it and he sees the value in it, he just goes about making it part of his game. He moves really quick. He’s excellent on the GPS stuff. He’s a real power athlete. His ball carry has always been excellent, but his defence this season has been brilliant.
“He has the concentration to be that kind of relentless player but then also his tackle entry and the back end after he gets good tackles has been really good. He’s good fun as well.
“He’s a really brilliant addition and find for us because when he showed up at Connacht, I hadn’t heard of him. I didn’t know him.”
Jansen is a key man for Connacht. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Indeed, Jansen was a serious find by Connacht, having been a serious find by Steve Borthwick’s Leicester initially.
Dunedin native Jansen first played rugby when he went to secondary school at King’s High School and then Otago Boys’ High, featuring for a couple of Otago provincial age-grade teams in that time, playing in the second row as well as back row.
He joined Green Island RFC after school for his club rugby, and though he was part of Otago’s academy set-up, there was no obvious route into their first team in the National Provincial Championship [NPC], which is the level below Super Rugby.
It was 2021 when Jansen moved to the unglamorous North Otago on loan and began excelling in the Heartland Championship, which sits underneath the NPC. The games were televised, which proved to be crucial.
Jansen’s uncle, Luke, helped him to put together a compilation of his highlights and then send it out into the rugby world. Fittingly, Luke was there in Australia in July when Jansen made his Ireland debut.
Borthwick was impressed with Jansen’s clips and gave him a shot at Leicester in 2022, where the powerful back row made 15 appearances over the course of 18 months.
By then, his Irish eligibility had come to light, and Connacht pounced. Jansen qualifies through his maternal grandparents. Kathleen’s parents were born in Belfast and Monasterevin, and left Ireland for New Zealand in their teens.
Those roots have proved invaluable to Jansen on his unusual, exciting rugby journey.
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Ireland's Jansen set for another big step in his unique career
THEY WON’T HAVE to rouse themselves in the wee hours back in New Zealand.
As Sean Jansen gets set for his second Test start for Ireland against Argentina on Friday night in Dublin, his family and friends on the other side of the world can look forward to watching the game with breakfast at 9.10am on Saturday morning.
Everyone from Dunedin’s Green Island RFC and North Otago will be glued to the TV to see if Jansen can kick on from his breakthrough summer with Ireland.
The Connacht number eight made his debut against Japan in the first window of this Nations Championship campaign, earning the player of the match award and a place on the bench against the All Blacks at Eden Park the following weekend.
It was a disappointing night for Ireland in Auckland, but it was still special for Jansen to face the haka and play against his native New Zealand in front of a big group of his loved ones.
Now, Jansen is set for his first home Test with Ireland as he looks forward to another milestone in his unique career.
The 27-year-old starts at number eight in the absence of Caelan Doris and Jack Conan, who are both injured. This wasn’t really a selection debate in the end, partly because there don’t seem to be many other number eight options who Farrell rates, but mainly because Jansen made such a dent last summer.
Not only did his obviously impressive collision-winning for Connacht transfer into the Ireland set-up, but Jansen impressed the Irish coaching staff with his ability to pick things up quickly.
They had been keeping a close eye on Jansen since his arrival into Irish rugby with Connacht in 2023, taking him on the Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa in 2024.
“I think what stood out was probably his diligence,” says Ireland forwards coach Paul O’Connell, who was part of that Emerging tour.
“Maybe when you look at a guy, I’m not sure what he has going on with his hair at the moment, but he generally has some kind of a rat’s tail or some kind of a something, and you’re kind of wondering what kind of a character you’re going to meet, but he was incredibly diligent.”
Jansen played for the Ireland A team in 2025, and his ever-improving performances with Connacht made him impossible to ignore.
He got his senior call-up for the tour to Australia and New Zealand a few months ago and has continued to improve.
Jansen’s ability to win collisions on both sides of the ball could be important against a powerful Pumas team on Friday night, although there is more to his game.
“He isn’t just a guy that has some big carries and some big moments,” is how O’Connell puts it after praising Jansen’s ability to keep developing his game.
“Sometimes the guys that are really physical just rely on that and they’re not so diligent. Or sometimes the guys that are really diligent aren’t as physical as they probably could be or should be. And I think he has both.
“You don’t have to tell him anything twice. If you say something to him and he understands it and he sees the value in it, he just goes about making it part of his game. He moves really quick. He’s excellent on the GPS stuff. He’s a real power athlete. His ball carry has always been excellent, but his defence this season has been brilliant.
“He has the concentration to be that kind of relentless player but then also his tackle entry and the back end after he gets good tackles has been really good. He’s good fun as well.
“He’s a really brilliant addition and find for us because when he showed up at Connacht, I hadn’t heard of him. I didn’t know him.”
Indeed, Jansen was a serious find by Connacht, having been a serious find by Steve Borthwick’s Leicester initially.
Dunedin native Jansen first played rugby when he went to secondary school at King’s High School and then Otago Boys’ High, featuring for a couple of Otago provincial age-grade teams in that time, playing in the second row as well as back row.
He joined Green Island RFC after school for his club rugby, and though he was part of Otago’s academy set-up, there was no obvious route into their first team in the National Provincial Championship [NPC], which is the level below Super Rugby.
It was 2021 when Jansen moved to the unglamorous North Otago on loan and began excelling in the Heartland Championship, which sits underneath the NPC. The games were televised, which proved to be crucial.
Jansen’s uncle, Luke, helped him to put together a compilation of his highlights and then send it out into the rugby world. Fittingly, Luke was there in Australia in July when Jansen made his Ireland debut.
Borthwick was impressed with Jansen’s clips and gave him a shot at Leicester in 2022, where the powerful back row made 15 appearances over the course of 18 months.
By then, his Irish eligibility had come to light, and Connacht pounced. Jansen qualifies through his maternal grandparents. Kathleen’s parents were born in Belfast and Monasterevin, and left Ireland for New Zealand in their teens.
Those roots have proved invaluable to Jansen on his unusual, exciting rugby journey.
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