Ulster's McNabney Poised for Ireland Debut as Farrell Shuffles Side Against Fiji
Ulster's James McNabney is poised to make his Ireland debut off the bench when Fiji visit the Aviva Stadium on Saturday night. BBC Sport reports that the 23-year-old is one of seven changes head coach Andy Farrell has made for the match, which kicks off at 20:10 as part of the Nations Championship, the annual series of tests between the sport's leading nations.
McNabney has had a stop-start season. He missed the whole of 2025-26 with an anterior cruciate ligament injury, a serious knee ligament tear, and has started just one game for Ulster this season. Being named among the replacements is a big step back into the picture.
Ireland have had to reshape their side. Caelan Doris, Jack Conan and Sean Jansen are all ruled out through injury. Dan Sheehan is out because of concussion, so Ronan Kelleher starts at hooker, the player who throws the ball in at lineouts and works in the scrum. Joe McCarthy drops out, and James Ryan moves into the second row alongside captain Tadhg Beirne, who leads the side on the night.
Hugo Keenan is also out of the squad, despite scoring a hat-trick of tries in Ireland's 42-12 win over Argentina at the same ground on 6 November. Mack Hansen moves to full-back, the last line of defence, and Nick Timoney goes to number eight, the forward who sits at the back of the scrum and often carries the ball into contact.
In the backs, Jamie Osborne, Bundee Aki, Tommy O'Brien and Jamison Gibson-Park come into the starting lineup. Aki was a late withdrawal from the Argentina game because of illness, and now returns to the centre. Rob Baloucoune and Sam Prendergast keep their places.
Up front, Josh van der Flier is back at open-side flanker. That position is the one most often tasked with winning the ball at the breakdown, the contest for possession on the ground after a tackle. Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong keep their spots in the front row, and Ryan Baird completes the pack.
The bench is a mix of experience and fresh faces. Tom Stewart, Tom O'Toole, Sam Illo, Darragh Murray, James McNabney, Craig Casey, Ciaran Frawley and Stuart McCloskey are all named as replacements, so changes can come in the second half if Farrell needs fresh legs or a different balance.
Ireland's next match is also at home. They play South Africa at the Aviva Stadium at 16:40 on 21 November, the next big test of how far this reshuffled group can go.
