IRELAND A COACH Mike Prendergast hopes to see more fixtures for the second-string national team added to the calendar in the future.
Yesterday’s 28-12 defeat in a one-off game against England A in Bristol was Ireland A’s first game since November 2022 and despite a tough afternoon for his injury-hit side, Prendergast said it had been a valuable week for players and coaches alike.
Munster attack coach Prendergast previously played for Ireland A in the 2000s when they had far more frequent fixtures.
The rebirth of the Emerging Ireland squad with tours to South Africa in 2022 and 2024 has added a new opportunity for young Irish players to wear the green jersey soon after coming through the U20 set-up, while Ireland played two midweek games with fringe senior players on their 2022 tour of New Zealand.
But Prendergast would like to see the return of more frequent A internationals during the Six Nations period.
“Hopefully it’s a competition that can add more fixtures going forward,” said Prendergast yesterday in Bristol.
“I was involved in it back in the day for a Six Nations, three or four games back then and I just think it helps the competitiveness.
Advertisement
“We’re already a very competitive rugby nation but I think when you’re playing against the other Six Nations, it’s something that you can really look forward to for your next band of players.”
Ireland were second best in Bristol. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
While pointing out how Irish players will have benefited from a week-long training camp at the IRFU’s high performance centre ahead of the England game, Prendergast said he and his Ireland A coaching team of Seán O’Brien, Jimmy Duffy, Mark Sexton, and Colm Tucker also learned lots.
Prendergast joined the senior Ireland team at a pre-Six Nations training camp in Portugal, while O’Brien and Sexton also linked up with Simon Easterby’s group recently.
“I won’t lie, it was a bit of a baptism of fire today in terms of everything that was going on with injuries but there was a good calm staff around,” said Prendergast.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the few days in Portugal and this week was really good.”
Of course, he was disappointed with the Irish performance in their four-try defeat to England yesterday.
Prendergast found it hard to look past the disruptive injury issues that hit Ireland when assessing the game, but he praised number eight Sean Jansen and a few others for stepping up when the going got tough.
“All the adversity, all the changes that went on, guys coming off, our ability to stick in the fight was really, really good,” said Prendergast.
“Performance-wise, I thought Alex Kendellen was really good, played 80 minutes. Nathan Doak played really well. Hugh Gavin in midfield carried really well, he’s a robust player.”
And despite the defeat, Prendergast is encouraged by what he has seen of the depth in Irish rugby.
Ireland A head coach Mike Prendergast. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
Some of the players involved for Ireland A yesterday will tour Georgia and Portugal with the senior side this summer.
“You saw through the squad, it was a bit of a mix of youth, experience, that middle-aged group, guys who’ve been capped… just to see some of the depth and how, in terms of the rugby IQ, I was really impressed.
“We sent information out on the Sunday out of respect to the URC sides who were playing and when the lads arrived in on Monday, in terms of their knowledge and understanding, they ran the week really well.
“Seánie O’Brien spoke about the opportunity on Monday and things didn’t work our way today, but we’ll look at how lads ran the week, about how they were in the environment and again I couldn’t speak highly enough of them.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
14 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Prendergast hopes to see more Ireland A games in the future
IRELAND A COACH Mike Prendergast hopes to see more fixtures for the second-string national team added to the calendar in the future.
Yesterday’s 28-12 defeat in a one-off game against England A in Bristol was Ireland A’s first game since November 2022 and despite a tough afternoon for his injury-hit side, Prendergast said it had been a valuable week for players and coaches alike.
Munster attack coach Prendergast previously played for Ireland A in the 2000s when they had far more frequent fixtures.
The rebirth of the Emerging Ireland squad with tours to South Africa in 2022 and 2024 has added a new opportunity for young Irish players to wear the green jersey soon after coming through the U20 set-up, while Ireland played two midweek games with fringe senior players on their 2022 tour of New Zealand.
But Prendergast would like to see the return of more frequent A internationals during the Six Nations period.
“Hopefully it’s a competition that can add more fixtures going forward,” said Prendergast yesterday in Bristol.
“I was involved in it back in the day for a Six Nations, three or four games back then and I just think it helps the competitiveness.
“We’re already a very competitive rugby nation but I think when you’re playing against the other Six Nations, it’s something that you can really look forward to for your next band of players.”
While pointing out how Irish players will have benefited from a week-long training camp at the IRFU’s high performance centre ahead of the England game, Prendergast said he and his Ireland A coaching team of Seán O’Brien, Jimmy Duffy, Mark Sexton, and Colm Tucker also learned lots.
Prendergast joined the senior Ireland team at a pre-Six Nations training camp in Portugal, while O’Brien and Sexton also linked up with Simon Easterby’s group recently.
“I won’t lie, it was a bit of a baptism of fire today in terms of everything that was going on with injuries but there was a good calm staff around,” said Prendergast.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the few days in Portugal and this week was really good.”
Of course, he was disappointed with the Irish performance in their four-try defeat to England yesterday.
Prendergast found it hard to look past the disruptive injury issues that hit Ireland when assessing the game, but he praised number eight Sean Jansen and a few others for stepping up when the going got tough.
“All the adversity, all the changes that went on, guys coming off, our ability to stick in the fight was really, really good,” said Prendergast.
“Performance-wise, I thought Alex Kendellen was really good, played 80 minutes. Nathan Doak played really well. Hugh Gavin in midfield carried really well, he’s a robust player.”
And despite the defeat, Prendergast is encouraged by what he has seen of the depth in Irish rugby.
Some of the players involved for Ireland A yesterday will tour Georgia and Portugal with the senior side this summer.
“You saw through the squad, it was a bit of a mix of youth, experience, that middle-aged group, guys who’ve been capped… just to see some of the depth and how, in terms of the rugby IQ, I was really impressed.
“We sent information out on the Sunday out of respect to the URC sides who were playing and when the lads arrived in on Monday, in terms of their knowledge and understanding, they ran the week really well.
“Seánie O’Brien spoke about the opportunity on Monday and things didn’t work our way today, but we’ll look at how lads ran the week, about how they were in the environment and again I couldn’t speak highly enough of them.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Calendar ireland a Mike Prendergast six nations 2025