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.