'HE'S GOT PRESENCE. HE’S CONFIDENT IN HIS OWN ABILITY' - FARRELL ON OSBORNE

IRELAND HEAD COACH Andy Farrell has backed 22-year-old debutant Jamie Osborne to bring “presence” at fullback in Saturday’s first Test against the Springboks.

The Leinster back was a surprise pick at number 15, where he played underage rugby but has only had two professional starts.

With Hugo Keenan missing, Farrell has decided to give Osborne a huge chance at fullback, which he said comes with the same risk as any other selection.

“As far as Jamie as a player is concerned, never mind a fullback, this has been in the pipeline for quite some time now, in regards to Jamie’s been in and out of the squad as a development player,” said Farrell this evening in Johannesburg after his matchday 23 was announced.

“But also he’s been picked in squads before and was unfortunate to be injured, hence in the Rugby World Cup training squad he got injured pretty early.

“When Jamie’s been in the squad on numerous occasions, he’s always filled in for us in all sorts of positions, certainly at fullback as well as centre. Anyone who knows Jamie as a rugby player and his background as a junior coming through, a lot of it’s been in the 15 jersey.

“His skillset is very interesting for us to see, how we use the skillset that he’s got. He’s obviously going to add to our performance. From what I’ve seen lately in the back end of the URC season is that whenever he plays, he’s got presence, it doesn’t matter what position he plays.

“He suits the way we play, he’s bright, he gets on the ball a lot in an organising way. His communication is very good and he’s accurate. He’s obviously got nice, soft hands and can play that way but also he can hit a line as well.

“To add to that, he’s deceptively very quick, good in the air, very athletic and he’s got a big left boot on him as well.”

Osborne was a fullback coming through the Naas RFC ranks, as well as featuring there for Leinster and Ireland U18 clubs, but has made just two starts there for Leinster in professional rugby.

The most recent of those was in November 2018 and having played in midfield for Leinster this season, Osborne is seriously short of game time at fullback.

“Well, any time you pick any side there’s always a risk but you’ve got to go with what you think is best for the team and his skillset is undoubtedly the right fit for us with Hugo obviously being out of the squad,” said Farrell.

“It’s a slot where we can have a look at Jamie and how he adds value to that is something we’ve been excited about for some time now and we get the opportunity to do that.”

Farrell said he would never have tried to stop Keenan’s dream of winning an Olympic medal with Ireland, even though it deprived him of one of his key players for this tour of South Africa.

“I spoke to Hugo quite a bit,” said Farrell. “There’s no way that if somebody’s got a dream like that – now, don’t get me wrong, if 10 of them had a dream, there’s a different decision to be had! – but when it was highlighted from the 7s management that he was in their thinking, then the question goes to Hugo.

“If that was a dream of his to do that, there’s no way I would stand in his way.”

With Keenan missing, Osborne has been training at fullback since Ireland came into camp in Dublin two weeks ago and Farrell is confident he is ready to go.

“We said, ‘You’re in at 15, how’s it going, Jamie?’

“‘Yeah, great, I’m all across it, no problem.’

“He’s a quiet lad and he comes across as quite shy but he’s not. He’s confident in his own ability. You can tell with how he prepares, how he plays the game and he’s all across his stuff within a few days and he’s very comfortable.”

As for the decision to start Craig Casey at scrum-half ahead of the more experienced Conor Murray, Farrell said this was the 25-year-old’s chance to show his quality against top-tier opposition.

Casey’s previous four Ireland starts have come against Italy and the US.

“I’m sure Craig will feel like that as well,” said Farrell. “He’ll see this as his big opportunity.

“He deserves it, he deserves the challenge to start a Test match like this and we’re looking forward to seeing how he drives the team forward.”

The other big selection talking point this week was how Farrell would put his midfield together.

In the end, Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw pair up in the starting XV and Garry Ringrose provides cover from the bench. Farrell said it had been tough to pick the starting pairing but also to leave another excellent centre out altogether.

“I always say this, don’t I, about Stu McCloskey,” said Farrell. “His form has been great, he’s been great in training, you look back at some of the big games we have won and he has been involved in a lot of them and he’s not even in the 23.

“Obviously, Garry is a class player that is waiting there to come on and add to the team so it’s as tough as it gets and that’s exactly what you want it to be.” 

2024-07-04T16:26:46Z dg43tfdfdgfd