'I was very close to going abroad' - Tom Farrell

Tom Farrell was determined to seize the opportunity of a long-awaited Ireland debut after almost closing the door on a potential international career.

The 32-year-old centre played the full 80 minutes of Saturday’s 41-10 win over Japan in Dublin, becoming the oldest back to win a first cap for Ireland in the professional era.

Farrell was previously called up by his country for the 2019 Six Nations but failed to make an appearance.

He came close to moving abroad in 2024 at the end of a seven-year stay with Connacht – which would have made him ineligible for Ireland – before being offered a career “lifeline” by Munster.

“Massive, massive amount of pride, to be honest,” Farrell said of his maiden Test appearance.

“Particularly during the anthems, I was trying to catch eyes with some of my family.

“It was probably, what’s the word, relief as well, just to finally get the monkey off the back I suppose and to be able to say I play for my country now.

“I was very close to going abroad (in 2024) and I was literally about to sign when I got a call from Munster.

“That put a spanner in the works, a good spanner.”

Having opted to remain in his homeland, Dublin-born Farrell has flourished at Munster.

He was overlooked for Ireland’s summer victories over Georgia and Portugal before being added to head coach Andy Farrell’s squad ahead of last weekend’s 26-13 loss to New Zealand in Chicago.

“The last time I was in camp was 2019, I probably let the opportunity pass me by a bit,” said Farrell the player.

“I probably wasn’t ready for the intensity and the demands of international rugby and probably let the opportunity slip by.

“But once I got the nod there two weeks ago, I was pretty determined to leave my mark.

“I wasn’t perfect, but there’s some good things out there.”

Ireland, whose starting XV featured eight changes from the All Blacks defeat, led 17-10 at the end of a disjointed opening period which ended with wing Jacob Stockdale being sent to the sin bin.

Second-half tries from Andrew Porter, Gus McCarthy, Paddy McCarthy and Tommy O’Brien added to efforts from Jack Crowley and Nick Timoney to seal victory.

“The first half was a small bit patchy,” said Farrell.

“We had a couple of words at half-time. I think the second half we probably found each other a bit more. And we clicked a bit more.

“We got the ball to where we wanted to go. I was only thinking there was a lot of changes. New personnel, combinations, not a lot of reps together during the week.

“To put in a second half like that, particularly with the man down for the first 10 minutes of that half, to come away with over 40 points is satisfying.”