THE PATH TO the Ireland team opened up for Sean Jansen, and now the Connacht back row is determined to make the most of a big November with Andy Farrell’s squad.
Having debuted at Test level over the summer, Jansen was barging his way up the pecking order as it was. Then it all escalated, with Caelan Doris and Jack Conan both forced out of the November Nations Championship Tests through injury.
The opportunity is there, now Jansen has to grasp it. It starts with Friday’s home meeting with Argentina in Dublin [KO 8.10pm], with Jansen named at number eight in a strong Ireland team.
“I would just say I’m confident in my abilities and I know what I can bring to the game and that’s what I’m going to do,” says Jansen.
“I’m going to attack every moment. Whether I make a mistake or not, I’m going to attack every single moment. And that’s what hopefully, as a team, that’s what the crowd will see.
“Like if I didn’t feel like I belong, I’d play rubbish, you know?” he continues.
“I’m not just here to fill a jersey because a few boys are injured. I’m here to attack it. I want to be starting ‘8’.”
Having had a taste of international rugby last season, Jansen came back into camp more assured and plugged into the workings of the environment this time around. There’s a clear confidence in how he speaks, and the New Zealand-born back row knows he has to look and sound the part around the place if he is to make the most of this Test window.
“Definitely (in terms of) presence. I wouldn’t say comfortable (in camp), but it’s more you just know what the standards are like. You know the level, and it just makes you hungrier and hungrier to get there.
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“And then you have that more presence. When you come in and you don’t know the lads at first, even though the lads are all legends and they’re very welcoming, but it takes you a second. I just know what we’re about. I’m just able to fly into training, you know what I mean?”
Jansen training with Ireland this week. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
He’s doing a fine job of it. Jansen earned his place in the summer games on the back of an outstanding season with Connacht, and has carried that form into the new campaign. In Ireland camp, his numbers have impressed coaches and teammates alike, with the 27-year-old working on both his mindset and physicality when it comes to his athletic and power abilities.
“A lot of stuff I’d be doing in training, post-training, pre-training, where I’m working on my entry for tackle, I’m following my legs in. It’s drills where I’m beating your man and carrying, but it’s also a mindset thing.
“You’ve got to have a mindset, especially in defence, to get forward. Or for me, to carry, if I’m just carrying for the sake of carrying, if I’m going to try to run over your man, you know what I mean?
“So it’s definitely a combination, and I’ve been working on it loads in drills, which makes you more comfortable when you come to game time, but at the same time, if you don’t have it up there, you’re not going to do it on game day.”
The mindset works involves chats with Gary Keegan, the IRFU’s Performance coach.
“He does a lot of mental stuff. So you’re staying in the present, your mind’s not split, you’re not worried about this, or you’re worried about a mistake you made.
“It’s just playing freely, and I feel like when Ireland are at their best, they’re playing free. You look like the ball’s just moving so nicely. It’s class to watch, so you’ve just got to get out of your own way.
“Faz says it a lot of the time that you get out of your own way, and sometimes, let’s say you come into a tour and you might be nervous or whatever it is, it’s just get out of your own way and just play free. Get over all your details, it comes game time, you just play free.”
Game time this week will be a first home outing in the Ireland jersey. A year out from the 2027 World Cup, growing the connection with fans has already been spoken about as a focus for the month.
“It’s just getting the home crowd behind us. I watched the World Cup (in 2023) and the crowd was something else. So it’s just playing footy that the crowd can get behind us.
Jansen debuted for Ireland in the summer. Ben Brady / INPHO
Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO
“It’s the moments where there’s kick chase, and we’re all sprinting, or there are scraps on the ground and everyone’s diving to it.
“It’s just the moments that don’t take any talent, that we’re going to outwork every other team and just get the crowd behind us, and hopefully we fly into this Nations Championship and we’re into the Six Nations, and then we all saw what happened last year with the crowd. We just want everyone to get behind us.”
If all goes well, this time next year Jansen will be an established part of an Ireland squad aiming for history at a World Cup. Being part of that tournament will be a driving force for him this season.
“It’s something you’ve got to attack. The World Cup, as a kid watching rugby, it’s the pinnacle of your career. If you can’t get excited about that, there’s not much that is going to excite you.
“So for me, it’s just attacking this. It’s the best opportunity. You’ve got the Nations Championship. You’ve got Six Nations, which is such a great competition. And then you’ve got the World Cup. It’s a year of rugby that gets the hairs on the back of your neck standing up, so you’ve just got to attack it.
“You’ve got to attack it. You’ve got to keep building every week. You can’t have a session where I turn up the training and I’m just going through the motions.
“We need to attack every moment, every session, every week. And we build into Argentina, you’re building to Fiji. It’s just constant. And then by the time you come into the World Cup, we’re flying.”
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'I'm not just here to fill a jersey because a few boys are injured. I want to be starting 8'
THE PATH TO the Ireland team opened up for Sean Jansen, and now the Connacht back row is determined to make the most of a big November with Andy Farrell’s squad.
Having debuted at Test level over the summer, Jansen was barging his way up the pecking order as it was. Then it all escalated, with Caelan Doris and Jack Conan both forced out of the November Nations Championship Tests through injury.
The opportunity is there, now Jansen has to grasp it. It starts with Friday’s home meeting with Argentina in Dublin [KO 8.10pm], with Jansen named at number eight in a strong Ireland team.
“I would just say I’m confident in my abilities and I know what I can bring to the game and that’s what I’m going to do,” says Jansen.
“I’m going to attack every moment. Whether I make a mistake or not, I’m going to attack every single moment. And that’s what hopefully, as a team, that’s what the crowd will see.
“Like if I didn’t feel like I belong, I’d play rubbish, you know?” he continues.
Having had a taste of international rugby last season, Jansen came back into camp more assured and plugged into the workings of the environment this time around. There’s a clear confidence in how he speaks, and the New Zealand-born back row knows he has to look and sound the part around the place if he is to make the most of this Test window.
“Definitely (in terms of) presence. I wouldn’t say comfortable (in camp), but it’s more you just know what the standards are like. You know the level, and it just makes you hungrier and hungrier to get there.
“And then you have that more presence. When you come in and you don’t know the lads at first, even though the lads are all legends and they’re very welcoming, but it takes you a second. I just know what we’re about. I’m just able to fly into training, you know what I mean?”
He’s doing a fine job of it. Jansen earned his place in the summer games on the back of an outstanding season with Connacht, and has carried that form into the new campaign. In Ireland camp, his numbers have impressed coaches and teammates alike, with the 27-year-old working on both his mindset and physicality when it comes to his athletic and power abilities.
“A lot of stuff I’d be doing in training, post-training, pre-training, where I’m working on my entry for tackle, I’m following my legs in. It’s drills where I’m beating your man and carrying, but it’s also a mindset thing.
“You’ve got to have a mindset, especially in defence, to get forward. Or for me, to carry, if I’m just carrying for the sake of carrying, if I’m going to try to run over your man, you know what I mean?
“So it’s definitely a combination, and I’ve been working on it loads in drills, which makes you more comfortable when you come to game time, but at the same time, if you don’t have it up there, you’re not going to do it on game day.”
The mindset works involves chats with Gary Keegan, the IRFU’s Performance coach.
“He does a lot of mental stuff. So you’re staying in the present, your mind’s not split, you’re not worried about this, or you’re worried about a mistake you made.
“Faz says it a lot of the time that you get out of your own way, and sometimes, let’s say you come into a tour and you might be nervous or whatever it is, it’s just get out of your own way and just play free. Get over all your details, it comes game time, you just play free.”
Game time this week will be a first home outing in the Ireland jersey. A year out from the 2027 World Cup, growing the connection with fans has already been spoken about as a focus for the month.
“It’s just getting the home crowd behind us. I watched the World Cup (in 2023) and the crowd was something else. So it’s just playing footy that the crowd can get behind us.
“It’s the moments where there’s kick chase, and we’re all sprinting, or there are scraps on the ground and everyone’s diving to it.
“It’s just the moments that don’t take any talent, that we’re going to outwork every other team and just get the crowd behind us, and hopefully we fly into this Nations Championship and we’re into the Six Nations, and then we all saw what happened last year with the crowd. We just want everyone to get behind us.”
If all goes well, this time next year Jansen will be an established part of an Ireland squad aiming for history at a World Cup. Being part of that tournament will be a driving force for him this season.
“It’s something you’ve got to attack. The World Cup, as a kid watching rugby, it’s the pinnacle of your career. If you can’t get excited about that, there’s not much that is going to excite you.
“So for me, it’s just attacking this. It’s the best opportunity. You’ve got the Nations Championship. You’ve got Six Nations, which is such a great competition. And then you’ve got the World Cup. It’s a year of rugby that gets the hairs on the back of your neck standing up, so you’ve just got to attack it.
“You’ve got to attack it. You’ve got to keep building every week. You can’t have a session where I turn up the training and I’m just going through the motions.
“We need to attack every moment, every session, every week. And we build into Argentina, you’re building to Fiji. It’s just constant. And then by the time you come into the World Cup, we’re flying.”
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