‘That Roar And That Support Was Something Special’ – Edogbo

Edogo came on to replace James Ryan in the second row for the final 10 minutes, and it is no wonder that he got the warmest of receptions from the Aviva Stadium crowd given how bright an international prospect he is, and the injury woes he has had to endure.

The dark days of his injury setbacks – he suffered two Achilles tendon ruptures in 2021 and 2023 – thankfully seemed a world away as the 23-year-old won his first Test cap, an achievement that Andy Farrell was keen to mark with the group afterwards.

“We need to celebrate Edwin’s first cap, that’s for sure,” head coach Farrell said after the game, referring to Ireland’s third debutant of the 2025/26 season after Paddy McCarthy and Tom Farrell.

“It’s one hell of a story. I’m so pleased that we’re able to get a win and show some fight to be able to get a win for him. His story is a phenomenal one, so we’ll celebrate that with him.”

A proud product of Cobh Pirates RFC, Edogbo is the first Pirates player to play senior international rugby since the late John ‘JC’ Daly in 1948, the mobile loosehead prop who famously scored the match-winning try against Wales that year which secured Ireland’s first ever Grand Slam.

The powerhouse second row, who stands at 6ft 5in and weighs over 19 stone, came up through the Munster Rugby age-grade pathway, earning his first international honours with the Ireland Under-18 Clubs team, before stepping up to the Munster Academy – a notable first for his east Cork club.

His younger brother, 21-year-old Seán, has since followed him through the same route at Munster, and for Edwin, who was called into the Six Nations squad after missing out on a cover role last autumn due to concussion, he is naturally hoping that Saturday is the first of many for him in the green jersey.

“I think my main goal with this campaign – I’ve had a few chats with Faz and with Paulie (O’Connell) – I just want to learn as much as possible.

“Obviously every player wants to play all the games but I understand that this isn’t a normal situation. This is a very special place, a very privileged place to be, and it takes time.

“I think Faz did an interview about how I need to find my feet and he’s 100% right. There is an element of knowing the system, knowing your team-mates, and ultimately international rugby is a different beast.

“I suppose I got a taste of that today and I know from that little block I had there, there’s a lot of work to be done and I’m looking forward to it.”

Edogbo certainly did his chances of featuring again in this Six Nations no harm with an industrious short spell on the pitch. With Ireland defending a seven-point lead, he helped to keep the Italians at bay by landing nine tackles out of nine, while he packed down at tighthead lock for arguably Ireland’s best scrum of the match.

He was well briefed by his coaches and team-mates about what to expect when experiencing Test rugby for the first time, and his cameo, while short, gave a glimpse of the size and athleticism he can bring to the Irish pack both in the tight and the loose.

Hearing the noise generated by the home fans when he came on will live long in his memory, as well as his Munster team-mate, Craig Casey, giving him his first Ireland jersey in front of his mum Patience and siblings Moses, Favour, and Seán, who had surprised him by attending Thursday evening’s jersey presentation.

The traditional pre-match send-off from fans at the Shelbourne Hotel before boarding the team bus, and the passion he felt singing the anthems were also moments to cherish for the UCC Applied Economics student, who was planning to sing Beyoncé’s ‘Halo’ as his first-cap song.

Asked about how he felt standing for the anthems, he replied: “It was an unbelievable experience. I was talking to one of my coaches back home (Cathal Sheridan) during the week, and he was like, ‘Just make sure you take a moment to plan for that’.

“I tried my best but there’s nothing quite like it, singing the national anthem, so it was a pretty special moment.

“I think the main (memory of the day) would be leaving the Shelbourne on the way to the bus on the way here, and just seeing the support in the hotel. Just people chanting, people saying good luck and all that.

“Just the amount of people that were there. I think (it’s) something rare that you get to experience so, yeah, it was definitely a nice feeling.”

He added: “Having that roar (when I came on) and that support from the crowd was something special and something I don’t take for granted.

“Everyone had the same message for me, ‘Just enjoy it, be calm, you worked hard for this’, and I think that really helped. Definitely it’s a different, added kind of pressure (coming off the bench).

“But the training we did during the week prepped us for that moment. Coming into it, of course it’s going to be challenging, and the lungs are going from moment go. We were pretty confident, we were’t comfortable, but we knew what we needed to do to get the victory.”

A winning start in green understandably has Edogbo eager for more, and he was already speaking about work-ons, and in particular a ‘little learning for myself’ after a tight refereeing call went against him when he was penalised at the breakdown.

He was pleased with how the team followed through on ‘the big intent we set this week to front up’, and that could be seen in that late defensive shutout to make certain of Ireland’s opening victory of the 2026 Championship.

Wherever his rugby career takes him from here, the Cork youngster will always be able to rely on the love and support of his family, friends, team-mates and coaches, and his hometown of Cobh.

For the occasion, the town on Great Island in Cork habour beamed a massive projection of Edwin in his Ireland kit and a good luck message onto the tower at Belvelly Castle which read, ‘Congratulations and good luck, from everyone on The Great Island’.

Acknowledging the pride and joy felt by those closest to him and the local community in Cobh during his first match week with Ireland, he explained: “I suppose you can be quite focused on yourself and the team’s form, so you don’t really look outwards.

“But just seeing the smiles on (my family’s) faces, and the messages they were sending came from the heart and it meant a lot. A few videos from home from a few of the boys too.

“(The tribute at Belvelly Castle) was unreal, wasn’t it? That was amazing. I didn’t know they were going to do that, so that was pretty special as well.

“I’ve done a lot of these interviews, and you know how much Cobh means to me, so for them to give me that little tribute was extra special.”

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