Ireland’s new star Sean Jansen has described potentially playing the All Blacks this weekend as a dream.

The Connacht No 8 was player of the match on his debut as Ireland did enough to beat Japan 36-20 in Newcastle, Australia, to keep their 100% Nations Championship record.

It was a lacklustre performance from the majority of Andy Farrell’s side, but Jansen was one of the huge standouts, with his bulldozing carries and speed off the mark the bit of energy Ireland overall lacked on Saturday.

It’s been a long journey for the 27-year-old, who hails originally from Dunedin, New Zealand, and after last weekend’s performance, could well be called upon by Farrell once again for the 23 on Saturday when Ireland face the All Blacks at Eden Park, a stadium the 3-time World Champions haven’t lost in since 1994.

‘It would be a dream man, it would be a dream, especially to break that record at Eden Park,’ Jansen said on the prospect of playing in the third and final test of this summer’s tour.

‘We’ll see what happens next week, but I can’t wait to get involved in the week. I want more and more [caps]. This is only the start, it’s not the ceiling, so I want more and more.’

And while Jansen is another Ireland International to be born in New Zealand, he is quick to assure that his Irish connections have always been strong, with both maternal grandparents hailing from Belfast and Monasterevin.

‘It was always something I wanted to do. It was the reason I signed in Ireland. I’ve been supporting Ireland since I was a kid. My mum’s full-Ireland, we’ve always been in a half-Irish household and it was always a dream but it was kind of one of the ones you didn’t know [would happen].

‘Then I think this season with Stu [Lancaster] coming in with Connacht and the way we’ve been going, it’s just given me more and more confidence and it’s gave the boys confidence and I just felt good out there. I loved it.

‘It was brilliant giving my mum a call and telling her.’

And it looks like there will be a big Jansen cohort at Eden Park, to the chagrin of organisers. ‘The manager is probably going to give me a bit of stick,’ Jansen explained. ‘Because I need about 30 or 40 tickets if I’m playing in that game,’ he laughed. ‘We’ll just flow into next week. Faz [Farrell] was just talking, we’re lucky to be able to go there and play at Eden Park.

‘Not many teams get to play at Eden Park, so it’s a massive opportunity for us to come and hopefully break that record.’