AS TEST DEBUTS come, a start away to the Springboks is about as testing at it gets but Ireland’s Jamie Osborne admirably handled that pressure environment as he won his first international cap last weekend.

The 22-year-old was a surprise inclusion for the opening Test of Ireland’s summer tour, starting at fullback in Pretoria as Hugo Keenan’s absence left Andy Farrell with an opportunity to look at a different option.

Osborne’s performance contained some errors but overall, the Kildare native will be pleased with his shift against the back-to-back world champions.

The Leinster player will have been grateful to get this early touch within 30 seconds of kick-off as he looked to settle into the game.

Moments late Osborne was strong to claim a high ball under pressure from the chasing Kurt-Lee Arendse. 

However there were some moments Osborne will have been disappointed with.

In the opening minutes he was beaten by Arendse as the Springboks ran in the opening try, the winger skipping past Osborne with a sharp sidestep to score. It’s worth pointing out here that Osborne was starting a game at fullback for the first time since November 2022.

After South African manage to stretch the play from right to left, Osborne finds himself isolated and is left with a difficult situation to defend against the lightning-quick winger. 

There was more frustration a few minutes later when Osborne was unable to keep this excellent Cheslin Kolbe kick in play.

Osborne races back in an attempt to take possession but only manages to get a hand on the ball before it leaves play – as a Kolbe kick from his own 5m line ends with a South Africa lineout on the Ireland 40m line.

Yet Farrell will surely be encouraged by the fact Osborne didn’t let those moments knock his confidence. 

South Africa continued to put Ireland under pressure in the opening quarter but Osborne did well to deal with this Handre Pollard kick in behind – using his strength to prevent Kolbe forcing him out of touch.

After those few early mistakes Osborne looked increasingly assured, plucking another high ball out of the air with confidence.

The fullback wasn’t getting too many opportunities with ball in hand but looked strong in the carry when presented with some space to attack.

When Pieter Steph du Toit went charging down the wing, Osborne found himself caught in another difficult position.

He decides not to commit and was grateful for James Lowe’s recovery tackle on Kolbe which pushed the winger back inside to traffic, with Ireland then winning a penalty at the breakdown.

Osborne then get his hands on the ball again to run into a half-gap before Ireland win a penalty on the edge of the 22, which Jack Crowley fails to convert.

Ireland keep possession from the restart, and Osborne plays a central role as the visitors put together an excellent move to score their first try of the evening.

He’s strong at the ruck to shift du Toit out of the way so Andrew Porter can get the ball free to Craig Casey on the ground.

Ireland work through the phases before moving the ball wide, with Dan Sheehan and Lowe linking up nicely before Lowe shows superb skill and strength to get the ball back inside to Osborne, who manages to avoid fumbling possession and dives over for a debut Test try towards the end of the first half.

South Africa enjoyed the early momentum in the second half and as the hosts threatened in the Ireland 22, Osborne did well to react quickly as Eben Etzebeth offloaded to Faf de Klerk, the fullback snapping up and disrupting the scrum-half’s pass to force the ball loose, leading to Ireland regaining possession and clearing their lines.

He had to be alert in defence again minutes later as Arendse couldn’t take possession to make the most of another promising South Africa attack – Osborne shooting up to apply pressure as Jesse Kriel can’t make his pass wide stick.

Ireland throw the resulting lineout over the top and after moving the ball infield, they exit through Osborne’s left boot.

It ends up being his last action of the game as he’s soon replaced by Ciarán Frawley after picking up a knock.

Osborne played down that injury post-game and with Ireland looking to level the series in Durban this weekend, he’ll hope to build on a promising start to his Test career.