Easterby certain race for number 10 will only aid Ireland's cause

The sense that Sam Prendergast has a ‘higher ceiling’ is being thrown around with abandon. How true that is remains to be seen.

JUGGLING ACT: Sam Prendergast at Ireland training at The Campus, Quinta do Lago, Portugal. Pic: Ben Brady, Inpho

Simon Easterby made no bones about it. The ink had hardly dried on his Emerging Ireland squad announcement in late 2022 when he was bigging up the enormity of the opportunity that was being offered up to those bound for South Africa.

The current interim Ireland head coach made it clear that those players could absolutely aim to be involved with the senior national team before too long if they played their cards right. And plenty of them did just that.

Calvin Nash, Robert Baloucoune, Ciaran Frawley, Tom Clarkson, Joe McCarthy and Cormac Izuchukwu are some of those who went on to play Test level rugby. So did Jack Crowley who made his full debut inside two months. His was a particularly rapid climb.

Two years later and Sam Prendergast matched it, and more. Now the Leinster ten finds himself making his Six Nations debut against England on Saturday having usurped Crowley last November and kept him at bay in the interim.

The sense that Prendergast has a ‘higher ceiling’ is being thrown around with abandon. How true that is remains to be seen but Easterby, who is always mindful of mentioning Crowley and Frawley at every possible turn, has seen clear growth in very quick time.

The joke was that this season’s Emerging Ireland tour was put together simply to fasttrack Prendergast who played all three games, but it was certainly an avenue for the coaching staff coaches to figure out how the talented 21-year-old ticks.

What they saw was a chilled-out character who goes assiduously about his business, although Easterby said that for any ten to progress they have to take the week by the horns and claim it as their own. He has clearly done that and more.

“We had him on the Emerging Ireland tour and he played two games in five days. I had a conversation with him about playing another game, which was three games in eight days, and I said: ‘How are you feeling?’ He said: ‘I’m good. I want to play.’ And that was his attitude.

“He has that youthful inexperience which is a nice thing because he doesn’t let many things faze him. He moves on from something that’s maybe not gone quite as well as he would have liked. He kicks on and he doesn’t let those things get to him, and that’s a real strong trait in good tens.” 

The choice of out-half was, the head man insisted, a difficult decision. He was at pains to stress that both Prendergast and Crowley will play a lot of rugby’ for Ireland in the years to come, and that the team will only benefit by that in-house competition.

Much the same was said for the situation at centre where Bundee Aki gets the nod ahead of Robbie Henshaw, with the latter starting on the bench. Easterby spoke of six or seven “tough decisions” this week, but 10 and 12 were the two most obvious.

Joe McCarthy’s injury – he suffered a head injury in training in Portugal this week but should be fine for Scotland in round two – enabled the shift from back row to second row of Tadhg Beirne and opened in turn the door for Ryan Baird to start on the blindside.

It’s a big opportunity for Baird whose athleticism and skills have been curbed too often by injury and inconsistency. As calls go, it’s not inconsiderable given the strength available in an area where Peter O’Mahony, Jack Conan and Cormac Izuchukwu were other candidates.

And this is where the big bucks are earned.

Keeping everyone happy is a staple of management these days. The absent Andy Farrell will bring those ample skills to the Lions tour this summer and Easterby admits this is something he has had to develop through the years.

“Over time you develop a feel for players and what they’re going through, and how you can support that and impact that.

“Yes, there’s always tactical and technical things that you want to keep strong in your side, but it’s those conversations that you have with players, the chats that you have over a period of time, that allows you to get a feel for that player.

“Then you hopefully get the best out of them, whether they’re starting, whether they’re on the bench, whether they’re not involved at all.” 

That bench will boast a 5/3 split, in contrast to the 6/2 preferred by Steve Borthwick. The absence of Joe McCarthy and Tadhg Furlong (calf) weakens the home team’s hand, no doubt about it, but this remains a collective rich in talent and experience.

The back three of Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen and James Lowe is reassuringly familiar and capable, Aki and Garry Ringrose form an imposing midfield, while Prendergast is already on a working wavelength with club colleague Jamison Gibson-Park.

Finlay Bealham has filled in for Furlong from the first whistle before, Andrew Porter is Andrew Porter and Rónan Kelleher can empty himself in the knowledge that Dan Sheehan is fit and raring to come on.

James Ryan is in superb form, as is Beirne, while Caelan Doris and Josh van der Flier are world-class talents in their field and familiar with Baird. Farrell may be on leave of absence but this is very much a Farrell team and squad.