IRELAND HEAD COACH Andy Farrell looks set to retain 21-year-old Sam Prendergast at out-half for Saturday’s game against Australia in Dublin, with Jack Crowley likely to be part of the Irish bench.
Munster man Crowley has been Ireland’s first-choice out-half for most of 2024, helping them to a Six Nations title earlier this year and starting both Tests against South Africa in July.
24-year-old Crowley was in Ireland’s number 10 shirt for the defeat to New Zealand at the start of the current autumn campaign and continued there for the win over Argentina the following week.
Leinster man Prendergast made his senior Ireland debut off the bench in that victory over the Argentinians, replacing Crowley in the final quarter, and Farrell gave the 21-year-old his first Test start against Fiji last weekend, with Ciarán Frawley on the bench as Crowley rotated out of the matchday 23.
Prendergast’s first start for Ireland nearly ended after just seven minutes when he was sin-binned for making head contact with a Fijian player but the off-field review concluded that the yellow card should not be upgraded to red.
Kildare native Prendergast returned to enjoy an impressive outing for Ireland, with his range of passing particularly prominent in Ireland’s eight-try win over the Fijians.
And Farrell is now set to back Prendergast to build on that performance against Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies on Saturday afternoon.
Crowley looks likely to be part of the Irish bench and will hope for a chance to make a big impact on the game.
Farrell and Ireland’s excitement about Prendergast’s potential has been clear for some time now, with the Leinster playmaker having first come into camp as a development player ahead of the Six Nations.
Prendergast travelled to South Africa with Ireland in July but wasn’t capped against the Springboks, then started all three of Emerging Ireland’s tour to South Africa in October, a clear indicator that the Irish coaches were readying him for a senior debut this autumn.
Prendergast was flagged as an exciting talent during his school years with Newbridge College and went on to be a key man for the Ireland U20s as they won a Grand Slam and reached the World Championship final in 2023.
He has only played for Leinster 20 times so far, including eight starts, none of which have been in the Champions Cup. But Ireland clearly believe he is ready to kick on at international level and it seems that Farrell will hand Prendergast a major opportunity against the Wallabies.
It seems Crowley will be asked to impact off the bench this weekend and he will obviously be determined to return to Ireland’s number 10 for the Six Nations, which kicks off with a home clash against England in nine weeks.
Farrell will begin his role as Lions head coach straight after this November window, with Simon Easterby stepping up as Ireland’s interim boss.
It’s expected that Farrell’s selection for this weekend’s meeting with the Australians will be similar to the sides he picked against New Zealand and Argentina.
The likes of Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Jamison Gibson-Park, Rónan Kelleher, and James Ryan are in line to return to the starting XV.
Farrell has had a selection headache in midfield, where Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw were superb last weekend, but Garry Ringrose has also been a highly consistent performer.
It could be that Farrell sticks with Aki and Henshaw, but whoever misses out on starting will almost certainly be in the number 23 shirt after Jamie Osborne was ruled out with the injury he suffered against Fiji.
Farrell has also had to decide whether to move Tadhg Beirne back to blindside flanker after he shifted into the second row against Fiji to give Cormac Izuchukwu a starting chance. The experienced Peter O’Mahony could be back in the mix this week.
There will also be a few close calls on the bench with Craig Casey and Conor Murray vying for the back-up scrum-half slot, while loosehead prop Cian Healy is in line to return and win his record-breaking 134th Ireland cap this weekend.
Ireland are due to officially name their matchday 23 at 2pm on Thursday.
Entertaining game, hope they win it
Hopefully Ralston gets a run of games and makes the Ireland Summer Tour. One of the better wing prospects around.
Enoyed the live as it happened, articles for the Ulster and Connacht games. Connacht maybe excusable as they are in Challange cup, but Ulster are in Champions Cup and are in Belfast with no other HCup games on, would have been easy to cover. Guess the precedent has been set and they’ll be no Leinster and Munster as it happened articles this weekend either?
@Kingshu: true but at least we dont get to see comments lol
@Kingshu: I suppose, like any business, the 42 have finite resources and they have to pick and choose their games each week. I certainly understand your frustration and I would be hopping mad if I was in your shoes. Example was trying to watch Bristol v Leinster when I had no power at home. My hotel in Mullingar and most of the pubs were more interested in showing Tottenham on the TV and at the time I could not understand why an English sports team was prioritised over an Irish one. But they know their audience and I am not their typical / regular punter. Point is, Munster and Leinster articles will attract 60+ comments tomorrow, Ulster attract 15 before midnight, Connacht 6 which is an indication that The42′s customer base is primarily from Munster and Leinster.
@Seanie: Great point… Last week comments section for La Rochelle v Leinster was toxic
@Paul Ennis: yes to toxic putting me off viewing comments
Great win. I would have given Ralston MOTM.,,
Great,win Connacht.
Well done Peter,and the rest of the team
Great stuff 2 irish wins allready some people do will be negitive and unhappy we are a funny bunch
Great try from Devine. I think always that he is the 1st choice SH in Connacht.
And I wonder why Wilkins used Oliver. It was not the first time that to see his stupid cards or penalties. This player cannot understand the situations of game.
@ciaran oconnor: What was the reason for the yellow, back chat to referee?
@Con Cussed: I think it was deliberate knock on
Poor enough performance but a very good result in the end.