Rating every Ireland player from the Nations Championship: Two standouts, including ‘counter punching’ forward, but too many ‘missed opportunities’ for Andy Farrell’s side
Joe McCarthy carries into traffic versus the All Blacks and, inset, Ireland newcomer Sean Jansen
Following the conclusion of the 2026 Nations Championship Southern Series, we are looking at every player’s performance across the tournament. Here’s how we rated Andy Farrell’s 34 Ireland charges.
Outside backs
Hugo Keenan (2 starts, 160 mins): Back in green for the first time since March 2025 following a rotten injury run, he can’t be fully exonerated from the defensive malaise that was Ireland conceding four-try bonus points to both the Wallabies and the All Blacks before half time in those matches, but there were a couple of key try saving tackles in Sydney to keep his team alive. Hungry to join the attack line, he was only one of two Ireland players to score tries in separate matches. 7
Jamie Osborne (2 starts, 138 mins): Having capably alleviated Six Nations concerns about the full-back position in Keenan’s absence by making five consecutive starts and scoring four tries, Osbourne’s tour was far less assured. Farrell gave him starts on the wing versus Australia and then at No.15 against the Japanese, but excluded him from the matchday 23 at the All Blacks. That was a disappointing setback after a season of progress. 3
Jimmy O’Brien (3 starts, 207 mins): Not even Paddy Power would have given odds on this guy’s international rehabilitation. He had fallen off the scene since playing off the bench in the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final, earning just three caps in the years since, and was only a fringe Leinster player in 2025/26. The loss of James Lowe due to a contracting farce offered a ray of hope, though, and with the pre-tour injury of Tommy O’Brien followed by Robert Baloucoune’s late first Test cry-off, he was parachuted in and went on to start all three tour matches. He was busy in the first two but anonymous in the third. 5
Robert Baloucoune (1 start, 80 mins): Had showcased the merit of bringing players in from the wilderness earlier this year by finishing the Six Nations as the BKT rising player of 2026 having not played Test rugby since 2022. However, whereas his presence in spring was crucial to Ireland’s mid-campaign revival, a niggle restricted him to just a single tour appearance and the way that match versus the All Blacks unfolded without much width left him with little scope to shine. 5
Jacob Stockdale (1 start, 59 mins): We hailed his redemptive try-scoring shift last March against Wales, as he had become one of the unluckiest Irish players of modern times due to injury and loss of form, but the 2018 Six Nations player of the championship didn’t kick things on in July versus Japan. Instead, you were left wondering whether Ireland would have been better served giving a debut to Zac Ward, Stockdale’s provincial colleague, in that fixture instead of leaving him idle and being one of two tourists – along with lock Darragh Murray – not to play a single minute on tour. 3
Centres
Stuart McCloskey (3 starts, 192 mins): The centre travelled south as a standout success story of the 2025/26 Irish season, the 33-year-old proving to everyone it’s never too late for a long-time fringe option to become an overnight Test-level success after years in the shadows. However, while this impressive level of consistent robustness and reliable hands continued against the Wallabies, a horrible period just before half-time in Auckland gifted the All Blacks the deflating try that killed the match and blotted his rating. 5
Garry Ringrose (2 starts, 138 mins): After being an ever-present in the midfield across the Six Nations, his burgeoning partnership with McCloskey continued on tour but without the same momentum. There was a beautifully timed assist pass to send in the try-scoring Keenan in the second half in Sydney, but Ringrose’s on-the-ball involvements were sparse and there were also moments that didn’t help the jittery Irish defence. 5
Bundee Aki (3 runs as sub, 72 mins): The 36-year-old’s one-year central contract extension in March after a Six Nations restricted to a 15-minute cameo off the bench was a puzzler at a time when the IRFU pleaded the poor mouth and were unable to prevent the exit of the more valuable Lowe. Aki’s was Farrell’s 23rd man for all three tour matches but positives were impossible to find. 2
Robbie Henshaw (1 start, 80 mins): A knee injury ruined his Six Nations chances and the legacy of what unfolded in his absence meant he was only deemed good enough for a run against the Japanese. He gave it socks on both sides of the ball playing outside McCloskey and couldn’t be faulted for that fixture’s underwhelming team performance, but he was surplus to requirement for the defining tour match versus the All Blacks. 5
Fly-halves
Sam Prendergast (2 starts, 160 mins): As an exercise in getting back into the team after his bloody Six Nations axing, great encouragement can be taken by the way he kept his head and kicked the winning conversion versus the Wallabies. However, there were still too many weaknesses in his game across his two appearances, and the takeaway verdict was that the injured Jack Crowley was a winner simply by not touring as his absence was felt. Prendergast continued to miss too many tackles for any defence’s liking and his threat on the line wasn’t satisfactory, as evident in the intercept pass that didn’t need to be played which gifted a try to the Aussies. 4
Ciaran Frawley (1 start + 2 runs as sub, 133 mins): It has been a regular refrain for quite some time that Ireland and Leinster must give game time at 10 to the drop goal hero of Durban 2024. The fly-half jersey finally became his against the Japanese, but the struggle which ensued suggested he will need to start doing spectacular stuff at new club Connacht next season if he is to ever get it back. Instead, he will continue to be viewed as a utility, as was seen in his round one and three bench cameos covering other positions. 3
Harry Byrne (1 run as sub, 21 mins): His fly-half specialism hampered his bench selection jostle with the more versatile Frawley, but he can’t be faulted as he did his bit when subbed on to see off the Japanese, adding tempo and kicking a crucial penalty to take it to a two-score lead with nine minutes remaining. Byrne, though, was touted as a potential out-half starter away to France at the start of the Six Nations, so to have played just 21 minutes in eight matches this year is a poor reflection given Prendergast’s lack of form and Crowley’s tour unavailability. 3
Scrum-halves
Jamison Gibson-Park (2 starts, 154 mins): He remains probably Ireland’s most important player as he brings the tempo and is an unplayable figure when on top of his game. Look at how he started and finished the sweep that provided his team the lifeline of a clock-in-the-red try with a move from their own 22 on the blow of half-time versus Australia. However, he looked gassed against the All Blacks and his low-key contribution appeared to be a reflection of a season that was far too long with so many of the Ireland squad having come into it after touring with the British and Irish Lions. 6
Craig Casey (1 start + 1 run as sub, 76 mins): As lacklustre as Gibson-Park was against the All Blacks, Casey was still only deemed worthy of a six-minute run at the end with the result long settled. Coming off the back of an Australian match where he didn’t even get off the bench, this lack of activity for the Munster scrum-half highlighted how far he remains behind his Leinster rival in the pecking order with no real sign of the chasm closing. 3
Nathan Doak (1 run as sub, 10 mins): After managing 13 minutes versus the Welsh in the Six Nations, this tour was a setback. Rather than Farrell backing Doak for a start versus the Japanese and providing him with a genuine chance to show what he could do, he was instead only given a late run. This did coincide with Ireland finally having a late uptick in that match, but it was a missed opportunity for Farrell to properly explore squad depth in this position. 4
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Loose forwards
Jack Conan (3 starts, 221 mins): With Caelan Doris absent through an injury sustained in Leinster’s United Rugby Championship final win, Conan became Ireland’s go-to for attacking go-forward, making 41 carries, and drawing a line in the sand defensively, putting in 52 tackles, the fifth most from any player in July across the 12 Nations Championship teams. Two tries also polished up his contribution made from two No.8 starts and another at blindside. 8
Josh van der Flier (2 starts, 107 mins): Back in New Zealand for the first time since Ireland’s 2022 series success helped him to win World Rugby’s player of the year award, what he managed in Auckland was below what Conan achieved and the main post-tour talking point was the controversy surrounding Luke Jacobson’s thuggish clear-out on him which only merited a yellow card from the officials. Fared better in Sydney where he was a try-scorer versus the Wallabies and a tackle count leader. 6
Tadhg Beirne (2 starts + 1 run as sub, 189 mins): Coming into the tour undercooked due to an injury sustained with Munster, he only made the round one bench before getting an upgrade, starting at lock in round two and switching to blindside for round three. Especially had a point to prove against the All Blacks, given his erroneous red card last November in the Chicago fixture, a punishment rescinded all too late a few days later, but his best work at Eden Park only came after the hosts had stolen a march on the scoreboard. 7
Nick Timoney (1 start + 2 runs as sub, 133 mins): Was one of the few players promoted to start versus Japan who came out of that match in Newcastle with his reputation enhanced because of his work rate. His energy is why he has become a regular on Farrell’s bench in recent times, rather than someone tasked with just holding the training ground tackle bag, and the optimism is that 2026/27 can be his most influential season yet. 6
Sean Jansen (1 start + 1 run as sub, 84 mins): The only one of the four new caps trusted with a start on debut against the Japanese, the Irish-qualified Kiwi enjoyed his try-scoring selection at No.8, but it was the following Saturday as a sub in Auckland where he learned much more about international rugby, ensuring an already beaten Ireland didn’t completely collapse and endure a humiliation. 6
Cian Prendergast (1 start, 51 mins): A second campaign in a row with Ireland that will be filed away under the ‘false start’ category. As happened in the spring, when he started the opener against France but then only featured once more from the bench, Prendergast was stitched into the No.6 jersey for the opener at the Wallabies but wasn’t involved after that despite scoring Ireland’s first tour points with a 10th-minute try. This issue in not stringing back-to-back games together is a sign that he is still only a fringe pick in Farrell’s eyes. 4
Cormac Izuchukwu (1 run as sub, 19 mins): Similar to Prendergast, it’s another case of a fleeting opportunity followed by nothing more. A start against Italy was his sole Six Nations outing and his tour was also a limited affair, getting the tail end of the mid-tour match versus Japan and ending up firmly behind Timoney and Jansen in the selection queue. 3
Bryn Ward (1 run as sub, 19 mins): A son of former Ireland back-rower Andy, he was a pre-departure call-up for the tour along with his brother Zac after Doris and Tommy O’Brien got hurt in Leinster’s URC decider. Unlike Zac, though, who was ignored on matchdays, Bryn got a bench debut against the Japanese. That will have whetted his appetite for more, but the truth of the matter was he did little in that cameo. 4
Locks
Joe McCarthy (2 starts, 160 mins): We’ve said it before about McCarthy that the next step in his career was to deliver huge Test performances back-to-back, not displays where what he does is up and down. This next step was taken on tour, McCarthy contributing royally to Ireland’s successful fightback in Sydney and also counter punching fiercely against the odds in Auckland, topping his team’s carry and tackle counts and also scoring a well-taken try. 8
James Ryan (3 starts, 217 mins): Ever since the nadir of that ugly red card versus South Africa last November, he has focused on the better parts of his game and arrived on tour as a man in form, going on to be one of five players – along with O’Brien, McCloskey, Conan and Tom O’Toole – to start all three matches. Decent in the first two outings but New Zealand was an obstacle that proved just too difficult. 6
All Blacks great blasts Ireland as a ‘pack of whingers’ who should stop ‘blaming everyone else’
Hookers
Dan Sheehan (2 starts, 127 mins): The tour skipper will be pleased the lineout on his watch wasn’t wounding; it’s been an area of Ireland’s play that has needed improved reliability. Sheehan spoke in the aftermath of the round three loss to New Zealand over how he was proud of the players, but it sounded hollow given it was a match they were never close to being in a position at any stage of winning. On an individual note, Sheehan’s stellar reputation over the years was founded on his attacking brio, but the opposition diluted his threat here. Some fresh ideas are needed. 6
Ronan Kelleher (1 start + 2 runs as sub, 92 mins): Another of these Ireland players who can impress off the bench, but it’s different when they start. Every Irish fan’s heart sank when seeing Kelleher toss the overthrow on the opposition 10-metre line in Newcastle that Japan gobbled up and scored from, setting the tone for a frustrating team evening. 4
Tom Stewart (1 run as sub, 21 mins): Again, Ireland would have benefited better in the long run from giving this rookie a start and finding out more about him rather than only using him to pad out their bench for the mid-tour game. He scored the death against the Japanese, but this was another position where Farrell prioritised the result above really testing out an unfamiliar face. 5
Props
Tadhg Furlong (2 starts, 110 mins): Amid concerns that the Irish scrum could be vulnerable to southern hemisphere headaches, the opposition feed wasn’t an issue when Furlong was involved. A curious thing, though, about the set-piece was that while the Wallabies and All Blacks had 14 put-ins, Ireland had just five in these two matches – highlighting the handling errors of Farrell’s team compared to the opposition. 6
Tom Clarkson (1 start + 2 runs as sub, 97 mins): Experienced the jubilation of scoring the late try that allowed Ireland to defeat the Wallabies with the resulting conversion kick. That was an enjoyable bounce back following a Six Nations where he didn’t kick on, as was his round three contribution off the bench. 5
Sam Illo (1 run as sub, 33 mins): The rookie’s inclusion for the tour suggests we might possibly have seen the last of Finlay Bealham, his Connacht teammate, given he had already fallen behind Clarkson into third choice in the Six Nations. As with the two other debutants who only featured off the bench versus Japan, though, the evidence regarding how Illo played needs to be treated with caution. Farrell really should have selected more like Rassie Erasmus, picking the newbies for debut starts to see if they sink or swim rather than offering fleeting minutes as a sub. 4
Tom O’Toole (3 starts, 193 mins): The Ulster tighthead starting all three tour matches and the two March Six Nations games is definitely a tale of the unexpected as his time as a Test-level No.1 before those was an experiment. He doesn’t have the explosiveness of an Andrew Porter, but no one could point accusing fingers at him and say he let the team down. He didn’t. 6
Jeremy Loughman (2 runs as sub, 21 mins): Was a blink-and-you-missed-it introduction against the Wallabies due to a concussion and although he returned to the bench versus the All Blacks, there was only a limited 13-minute run. 4
Billy Bohan (1 run as sub, 26 mins): The rookie is a grandson of the late Mick Doyle, the give-it-a-lash Ireland coach from the mid-1980s. He was Farrell’s final round two debutant but again, coming off the bench, a hard and fast opinion couldn’t be made. 4
