IT IS FITTING that Sean Jansen’s home club is called Green Island.
Based on the outskirts of Dunedin in Jansen’s native New Zealand, everyone in Green Island RFC will be feeling great pride as the rambunctious number eight makes his international debut for Ireland against Japan on Saturday.
Jansen’s superb form for Connacht has earned him a shot in Andy Farrell’s side and having taken a road less travelled to get to this point, the 27-year-old will be eager to leave a lasting impression.
When he was playing for Green Island – ‘The Grizzlies’ – in Miller Park, Jansen was loved for his relentlessness. Connacht fans have come to adore him for that trait. And now Ireland supporters will get the chance to appreciate Jansen’s qualities.
He has come a long way from Dunedin, where there were times when it looked as though his ambition of being a professional rugby player would never take flight.
Jansen’s father, Fred, is a policeman in Green Island and his mother, Kathleen, is a nurse in Dunedin. Sean is one of five siblings.
It’s his mother’s side of the family that Sean has to thank for his Irish eligibility. Kathleen’s parents were born in Belfast and Monasterevin but left Ireland for New Zealand in their teens.
Dunedin became their home.
“He’s Green Island born-and-bred, just from out in Fairfield,” says Dean Moeahu, who coached Jansen at club level and in Otago representative sides.
“A lot of his mates are still playing in the team here. We’re all over the moon and proud of him. Whenever he’s been back in New Zealand, he’s at the club.”
Jansen has always been a strong ball-carrier. Green Island RFC
Green Island RFC
Moeahu is close friends with legendary All Black and Green Island legend Ben Smith, and he says Jansen has some similar traits to the great New Zealand fullback.
Even from the early days, it was clear that Jansen was extremely combative.
“Just around that competitiveness, competing to win and working extremely hard to get to where you want to be,” says Moeahu.
“He’s a tough bastard, a real tough bastard. Uncompromising. If it’s going to be him or you, it’s always going to be him who wins that collision.
“He never goes backwards. He only goes forward.
“He was never the biggest, never the tallest, but always the hardest working.”
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Rather unusually for a Kiwi, Jansen first played rugby when he went to secondary school at King’s High School and then Otago Boys’ High, both of which have produced some top-class rugby players. Jansen also featured for age-grade Otago teams along the way.
After school, he came back to Green Island, his local club. He was a prospect, but Jansen found his pathway blocked with the Otago team, who play in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship [NPC], the level below Super Rugby.
He was part of Otago’s academy and excelled for Green Island, but he needed a move to kick things on. In 2021, Jansen made a loan switch to North Otago, who play in the Heartland Championship, the national provincial competition below the NPC.
“It was a short time that we had him with us, but it was fun,” says Jason Forrest, who was Jansen’s head coach for North Otago.
“Otago didn’t want him. I believe he was too short to be a lock and too small at that time to be a back row for them. But he was just exactly what we needed.”
Jansen breaks from the base of a scrum. Green Island RFC
Green Island RFC
Jansen became a pivotal figure for North Otago as they reached the Lochore Cup final in the 2021 Heartland Championship, where they lost to Whanganui.
Jansen played in the second row or at number eight for North Otago, and he made an immense impact.
“It was his aggressiveness, both sides of the ball,” says Forrest of what stood out.
“He just loved to carry hard. He loved to tackle hard. He loved to clean hard. He just loved getting in and amongst it.
“He wanted to learn and be a sponge with his rugby.”
Jansen also proved to be a popular character off the pitch with North Otago.
“Heartland’s a little bit different,” says Forrest. “We’re semi-professional, so we also have a very good time off the field when we’re on away trips and that sort of thing.
“He loved to have a quiet beer with the boys.”
This chimes with the character that Moeahu knows from Green Island.
Jansen is a confident man, someone who isn’t afraid to show a bit of personality. That has already made an impression on Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, who has enjoyed getting to know him a bit more in camp on this Nations Championship tour.
Jansen works hard, but he has a sense of fun about him too.
“He’s not afraid to be himself,” says Moeahu. “When he was younger, his off-field antics probably inhibited him a little bit because he just enjoyed life.
He was a bit of a rogue kid off the field. But that was all part of being a young man and learning to grow into becoming an adult.
Jansen playing for Leicester in 2022. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
“Sean, when he’s in, he’s 100% in. He’s not a half-mast sort of person. He commits to things and he’s very protective and he’s very proud of his friends and his family.
“So if he commits to you, he commits to you. You’re not gonna get a half Sean.
“What never wavered was his desire to actually get to that top level. He was prepared to do anything that it took.”
Being part of the North Otago team in the Heartland Championship in 2021 was crucial for Jansen. The games are shown on TV in New Zealand, so Jansen was able to start putting together a compilation of his highlights.
His uncle, Luke, helped him to get the video out into the rugby world. As it happens, Luke is now in Australia following Jansen and Ireland. He will be at McDonald Jones Stadium for Sean’s debut on Saturday.
Little could they have imagined where the highlights compilation would lead. Initially, it was Leicester in England who unexpectedly picked up on Jansen’s ability. He joined the English club in 2022 and made 15 appearances over the course of 18 months.
It was a huge step up for Jansen but they weren’t surprised back home in New Zealand that he adapted quickly.
“He always wanted to be better,” says Forrest. “It was those little details around his carry, the light footwork and getting to a weak shoulder instead of just, you know, T-boning and things like that.”
Then-Leicester boss Steve Borthwick was a big influence on Jansen, who then took advantage of his Irish eligibility when joining Connacht in 2023.
“He has gone and followed his heritage, which I think is pretty bloody special,” says Moeahu.
Jansen has been in superb form for Connacht. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
The decision to move to Ireland has proved a clever one for Jansen as he now gets set to make his international debut against the Brave Blossoms in Newcastle.
His form for Connacht this season has been exceptional, with 12 tries in 19 starts. Having featured for the Ireland A side against England A back in March, as well as for Emerging Ireland in 2024, Jansen now gets the chance to test himself in senior international rugby.
Forrest and everyone associated with North Otago, whose chief executive is former Ireland international Sene Naoupu, will be watching on with pride. The same will be true for Green Island RFC.
“It’ll be quite emotional,” says Forrest. “Even just to see him get to where he’s got to before even making the Irish squad, getting all the accolades he obviously hugely deserves over there in Ireland.
“So pretty emotional and very special for us, as one of the smallest Heartland unions in New Zealand. It’ll be pretty special to say we played a hand in where he is right now.
“There’ll be a few of us around that were involved with him. We’ll probably get around the TV and have a beer and just sit there and go, ‘Wow, well done.’”
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'He was never the biggest or tallest, but always the hardest working'
IT IS FITTING that Sean Jansen’s home club is called Green Island.
Based on the outskirts of Dunedin in Jansen’s native New Zealand, everyone in Green Island RFC will be feeling great pride as the rambunctious number eight makes his international debut for Ireland against Japan on Saturday.
Jansen’s superb form for Connacht has earned him a shot in Andy Farrell’s side and having taken a road less travelled to get to this point, the 27-year-old will be eager to leave a lasting impression.
When he was playing for Green Island – ‘The Grizzlies’ – in Miller Park, Jansen was loved for his relentlessness. Connacht fans have come to adore him for that trait. And now Ireland supporters will get the chance to appreciate Jansen’s qualities.
He has come a long way from Dunedin, where there were times when it looked as though his ambition of being a professional rugby player would never take flight.
Jansen’s father, Fred, is a policeman in Green Island and his mother, Kathleen, is a nurse in Dunedin. Sean is one of five siblings.
It’s his mother’s side of the family that Sean has to thank for his Irish eligibility. Kathleen’s parents were born in Belfast and Monasterevin but left Ireland for New Zealand in their teens.
Dunedin became their home.
“He’s Green Island born-and-bred, just from out in Fairfield,” says Dean Moeahu, who coached Jansen at club level and in Otago representative sides.
“A lot of his mates are still playing in the team here. We’re all over the moon and proud of him. Whenever he’s been back in New Zealand, he’s at the club.”
Moeahu is close friends with legendary All Black and Green Island legend Ben Smith, and he says Jansen has some similar traits to the great New Zealand fullback.
Even from the early days, it was clear that Jansen was extremely combative.
“Just around that competitiveness, competing to win and working extremely hard to get to where you want to be,” says Moeahu.
“He’s a tough bastard, a real tough bastard. Uncompromising. If it’s going to be him or you, it’s always going to be him who wins that collision.
“He never goes backwards. He only goes forward.
“He was never the biggest, never the tallest, but always the hardest working.”
Rather unusually for a Kiwi, Jansen first played rugby when he went to secondary school at King’s High School and then Otago Boys’ High, both of which have produced some top-class rugby players. Jansen also featured for age-grade Otago teams along the way.
After school, he came back to Green Island, his local club. He was a prospect, but Jansen found his pathway blocked with the Otago team, who play in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship [NPC], the level below Super Rugby.
He was part of Otago’s academy and excelled for Green Island, but he needed a move to kick things on. In 2021, Jansen made a loan switch to North Otago, who play in the Heartland Championship, the national provincial competition below the NPC.
“It was a short time that we had him with us, but it was fun,” says Jason Forrest, who was Jansen’s head coach for North Otago.
“Otago didn’t want him. I believe he was too short to be a lock and too small at that time to be a back row for them. But he was just exactly what we needed.”
Jansen became a pivotal figure for North Otago as they reached the Lochore Cup final in the 2021 Heartland Championship, where they lost to Whanganui.
Jansen played in the second row or at number eight for North Otago, and he made an immense impact.
“It was his aggressiveness, both sides of the ball,” says Forrest of what stood out.
“He just loved to carry hard. He loved to tackle hard. He loved to clean hard. He just loved getting in and amongst it.
“He wanted to learn and be a sponge with his rugby.”
Jansen also proved to be a popular character off the pitch with North Otago.
“Heartland’s a little bit different,” says Forrest. “We’re semi-professional, so we also have a very good time off the field when we’re on away trips and that sort of thing.
“He loved to have a quiet beer with the boys.”
This chimes with the character that Moeahu knows from Green Island.
Jansen is a confident man, someone who isn’t afraid to show a bit of personality. That has already made an impression on Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, who has enjoyed getting to know him a bit more in camp on this Nations Championship tour.
Jansen works hard, but he has a sense of fun about him too.
“He’s not afraid to be himself,” says Moeahu. “When he was younger, his off-field antics probably inhibited him a little bit because he just enjoyed life.
He was a bit of a rogue kid off the field. But that was all part of being a young man and learning to grow into becoming an adult.
“Sean, when he’s in, he’s 100% in. He’s not a half-mast sort of person. He commits to things and he’s very protective and he’s very proud of his friends and his family.
“So if he commits to you, he commits to you. You’re not gonna get a half Sean.
“What never wavered was his desire to actually get to that top level. He was prepared to do anything that it took.”
Being part of the North Otago team in the Heartland Championship in 2021 was crucial for Jansen. The games are shown on TV in New Zealand, so Jansen was able to start putting together a compilation of his highlights.
His uncle, Luke, helped him to get the video out into the rugby world. As it happens, Luke is now in Australia following Jansen and Ireland. He will be at McDonald Jones Stadium for Sean’s debut on Saturday.
Little could they have imagined where the highlights compilation would lead. Initially, it was Leicester in England who unexpectedly picked up on Jansen’s ability. He joined the English club in 2022 and made 15 appearances over the course of 18 months.
It was a huge step up for Jansen but they weren’t surprised back home in New Zealand that he adapted quickly.
“He always wanted to be better,” says Forrest. “It was those little details around his carry, the light footwork and getting to a weak shoulder instead of just, you know, T-boning and things like that.”
Then-Leicester boss Steve Borthwick was a big influence on Jansen, who then took advantage of his Irish eligibility when joining Connacht in 2023.
“He has gone and followed his heritage, which I think is pretty bloody special,” says Moeahu.
The decision to move to Ireland has proved a clever one for Jansen as he now gets set to make his international debut against the Brave Blossoms in Newcastle.
His form for Connacht this season has been exceptional, with 12 tries in 19 starts. Having featured for the Ireland A side against England A back in March, as well as for Emerging Ireland in 2024, Jansen now gets the chance to test himself in senior international rugby.
Forrest and everyone associated with North Otago, whose chief executive is former Ireland international Sene Naoupu, will be watching on with pride. The same will be true for Green Island RFC.
“It’ll be quite emotional,” says Forrest. “Even just to see him get to where he’s got to before even making the Irish squad, getting all the accolades he obviously hugely deserves over there in Ireland.
“So pretty emotional and very special for us, as one of the smallest Heartland unions in New Zealand. It’ll be pretty special to say we played a hand in where he is right now.
“There’ll be a few of us around that were involved with him. We’ll probably get around the TV and have a beer and just sit there and go, ‘Wow, well done.’”
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