The six players who made Six Nations debuts for Ireland

Joe McCarthy

The 22-year-old second row enjoyed a strong first Six Nations campaign for Ireland. McCarthy’s physical edge was a welcome addition for Farrell’s side, who had probably lacked an out-and-out tighthead lock to scrummage, carry off nine, tackle close to the ruck, blast the breakdown, and maul.

It’s clear that McCarthy has improving handling skills to go along with the contact work, so it will be exciting to see how much progress he can make in the coming years. He is already having a notable influence in the second row.

McCarthy is still raw in some regards and conceded six penalties in his five starts in this championship, second only to Andrew Porter’s nine. He will have learned plenty from Ireland’s defeat to England but on the whole, this has been an excellent beginning to life as a first-choice lock at Test level.

Tadhg Beirne looks more important than ever in the second row having taken on the lineout calling role, while James Ryan’s energy was missed in the closing two games of this Six Nations. Iain Henderson is hugely experienced and the dynamic Ryan Baird is still a fine option in the second row.

Calvin Nash

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Ireland had to go down their depth chart on the right wing with Mack Hansen and Jimmy O’Brien injured, but Nash stepped up to the mark impressively.

The Limerick man is a powerful wing and looked comfortable taking the physical step up, offering notable aggression in his ball-carrying. While Nash isn’t the same creative playmaker as Hansen, he had several excellent passes and offloads in this Six Nations. It helps that Munster’s attack demands that their wings roam heavily.

Nash was unlucky to be forced off early against England with a head injury but he made a positive return last weekend versus Scotland. He’d have been disappointed not to finish a second-half chance for his third try in five starts, but he had some excellent involvements including good work under Jack Crowley’s restarts.

While it’s obvious that Hansen is the first-choice pick in the number 14 jersey, Nash has demonstrated that he is cut out for Test rugby and will provide strong competition there.

Ciarán Frawley

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The Skerries man has had to be patient at Leinster and with Ireland, so there must have been great satisfaction to make his first Test start against Wales in the absence of Hugo Keenan.

Frawley scored a try in the number 15 shirt as he produced a composed performance, having made his Six Nations debut in a brief cameo at the end of Ireland’s win away to France in Round 1.

Having Frawley in the mix also allowed Ireland to go for 6/2 bench splits in their wins over France and the Welsh. His ability to play at fullback, in the centre, and at out-half was key to making it work.

When Frawley was ruled out of the Scotland game due to concussion, the possibility of another 6/2 was hugely reduced. Frawley will surely be pleased to have made progress with Ireland in this campaign and must now kick on for Leinster.

Jeremy Loughman

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The Munster loosehead prop featured only once off the bench against Italy, playing 24 minutes, as head coach Farrell continued with 36-year-old Cian Healy as the back-up to starter Andrew Porter in this position.

Loughman was at the World Cup with Ireland last year after Healy was ruled out through injury, but it’s still unclear how highly the Irish coaching staff regard him.

Loosehead is an obvious area for Ireland to grow long-term depth even if Healy has declared his intention to keep playing into next season. It’s believed that tighthead Tom O’Toole did some training reps at loosehead during this Six Nations campaign as Ireland considered the possibility of him switching across in the future.

Leinster’s Michael Milne is a player Farrell has called into Ireland camp before and will hope to push his way back into the frame after recovering from injury.

Harry Byrne

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With his older brother, Ross, injured for the start of the Six Nations, Harry made a return to the Ireland set-up for this campaign.

Harry had featured in Ireland squads earlier in the Farrell era, winning his first two caps in the summer of 2021 and getting selected for the 2022 tour of New Zealand only for injury to rule him out of two probable starts at out-half in the midweek games.

Byrne has endured plenty of injury frustration since but has been good for Leinster in the current season, impressing in Champions Cup starts against La Rochelle and Leicester in particular.

He came off the bench against Italy and dovetailed nicely with Crowley, who moved to fullback. Byrne got on with 13 minutes left last weekend against Scotland, with Crowley again moving to fullback, but was sin-binned for a high tackle on Finn Russell.

With Frawley injured, the fit-again Ross Byrne joined Ireland camp last week and he will be determined to force his way back into the selection mix ahead of the summer tour of South Africa. While Crowley has nailed down the starting out-half slot in green, the Byrne brothers and Frawley are fighting for places at Leinster and with Ireland.

Oli Jager

Dan Sheridan / INPHO

Jager was initially brought into the Ireland set-up as an extra training player but Farrell and co. liked what they saw. Jager was soon formally added to the Six Nations squad and was sprung into the matchday 23 for the win over Wales.

Munster tighthead prop Jager did well off the bench that day to suggest he can be part of this Ireland group moving forward. 

Tadhg Furlong had a strong Six Nations to underline his status as a key man in the number three shirt but Finlay Bealham has made big strides of progress over the last few years. He added to his reputation with another good showing off the bench last weekend.

O’Toole played 24 minutes off the bench against Italy and he too had shown improvements at tighthead recently but if Jager is now going to be part of the squad, it could make sense if Ireland try O’Toole at loosehead.

Either way, 28-year-old Jager has already been a positive addition for Munster and Ireland.