'Roy of the Rovers' Farrell to get Ireland debut aged 32

DUBLIN :Resurgent Munster centre Tom Farrell will make his Ireland debut against Japan on Saturday, six years after his only other unsuccessful call-up to the national squad in what coach Andy Farrell described as a "Roy of the Rovers" journey.

Captain Caelan Doris will also start for the first time since undergoing surgery six months ago. The influential number eight looked sharp off the bench against New Zealand last Saturday before Ireland fell away badly to a 26-13 defeat.

The late-blooming Farrell, 32, has been in superb form for Munster this season but was only included in the squad for the November internationals as a late injury replacement.

"(Tom's) is a real Roy of the Rovers story when you look at his journey in the game to this point," Andy Farrell said, referring to the football character from the old British comic strip who overcame the odds on a regular basis.

"Tom has worked really hard to earn the right to represent his country and I know how proud he is to be involved this weekend after knocking on the selection door for the last few seasons."

Among the six other changes from the All Blacks defeat, Nick Timoney gets a rare opportunity next to Doris in the back row, having won just four caps since his debut in 2021.

His Ulster teammate Jacob Stockdale, Ireland's sixth-highest all-time try scorer following a blistering start to his career, also features for only the third time in over two years.

Ronan Kelleher, Thomas Clarkson and Craig Casey will give breathers to Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong and Jamison Gibson-Park, while Robbie Henshaw comes in at centre for Stuart McCloskey, who picked up a knock in an impressive outing last Saturday.

Ireland will complete their run of internationals against Australia and