Tadhg Beirne says he is looking forward to a “special, special moment” when he captains Ireland for the first time in Saturday’s Nations Championship game against Japan.

The 34-year-old was appointed Munster skipper in 2024 and captained the British and Irish Lions in last year’s win over the Waratahs in Sydney.

Having previously taken over on-field captaincy duties for his country, he will lead Ireland out against Japan in Newcastle, New South Wales (11:10 BST), with tour skipper Dan Sheehan rested.

“[It’s] a huge honour. Of course it is,” said Beirne.

“I’ve had the honour of being captain on field when our main guys haven’t been there, Dan and Caelan [Doris].

“But to lead the guys out from the start, again I revert to that word ‘special’, because it is a special, special moment for me and my family.”

After recovering from a knee injury which sidelined him for the end of Munster’s season, Beirne made a significant impact off the bench in last week’s 33-31 win over Australia.

His inclusion in the second row is one of nine changes made by head coach Andy Farrell for the Japan game.

And while Beirne says he was buoyed by Ireland’s resilience, as they recovered from 12 points down to edge out the Wallabies, he admits his side must improve defensively.

“There’s a lot of positives, obviously,” he said.

“The fight from everyone to stay in it and come from behind was really pleasing. But I think there’s a lot of areas of the game where we probably weren’t particularly happy with the way we did things.

“Our defence wasn’t where it needed to be physically, and credit to the Aussies – they played incredibly well.”

Japan’s only victory over Ireland in 11 meetings came at the 2019 World Cup, but Eddie Jones’ side approach Saturday’s fixture in fine form after opening the Nations Championship with an impressive 27-10 victory over Italy in Tokyo.

“They play fast rugby. I’ve played them in the past they they like to keep the tempo of the game up – it’s on us to match that,” observed Beirne.

“But especially physically, I think that’s going to be a big area of the game where we’re going to have to put a stamp on it.”