WHATEVER ONE’S FEELINGS about the Emerging Ireland team’s place in Irish rugby, there can be little doubt that Simon Easterby’s group did a fine job in South Africa over the past 10 days.
The players’ enjoyment of this short trip was evident in their celebrations last night as they made it three wins from three by beating the Cheetahs, hosts of the Toyota Challenge, having dispatched the Pumas and Western Force in their other games.
The Pumas were poor but the Western Force side included a few Wallabies and lots of Super Rugby, Top 14, and Premiership caps. Sure, they were short of match practice but the same is true of most of the Irish players, whose provincial seasons had barely started before they were whisked away on tour.
The Cheetahs showed great physicality in the opening half last night, surely causing worry for Simon Easterby and his coaching staff, but the Irish side improved after half time and were able to demonstrate their attacking quality to win 33-24.
There were errors aplenty from Emerging Ireland in all three games, as should be expected from a team thrown together and asked to play at altitude in the heat of Bloemfontein, but they looked well-coached for long periods of the matches too.
In that sense, the tour has been valuable for Easterby, Paul O’Connell, John Fogarty, and Andrew Goodman. Ireland head coach Andy Farrell watched from back home but his assistants got a handy workout for two weeks, fine-tuning their craft ahead of the November Tests. Another stint as head coach should serve Easterby well ahead of his interim role as Ireland boss next year.
But really this tour was about players that the Ireland coaches believe have the potential or current ability to feature in the senior squad.
21-year-old Sam Prendergast and 24-year-old Cormac Izuchukwu were the two men who travelled with Emerging Ireland having also been on the senior trip to South Africa in July when neither won their first cap.
Izuchukwu showed his class in his two appearances for Emerging Ireland, excelling at blindside flanker against the Pumas before delivering a pleasing nuts-and-bolts performance in the second row against the Force. Ulster missed him but Izuchukwu should benefit from extra time working with O’Connell. He looks ready for a senior cap and his positional flexibility will help in any matchday squad.
Prendergast started all three games as he was asked to take on a heavy workload, underlining how highly the Irish coaches regard him. They wanted this hands-on time to develop his understanding of their systems, so crucial for an out-half.
There were many examples of Prendergast’s classy kicking and passing, while he got stuck in physically. He had some spectacular touches and generally led the team maturely. His decision-making is at a high level and while his execution will only continue to improve, there’s no doubt this tour will have strengthened his standing with the Irish coaches.
Many others in this Emerging Ireland squad furthered their reputations. Connacht centre Hugh Gavin was impactful in his two starts and looks physically more ready for professional rugby than most 20-year-olds.
Several of his Connacht team-mates – tighthead prop Jack Aungier, scrum-half Matthew Devine, powerful back row Sean Jansen, and second row Darragh Murray – showed their qualities. Devine is an exciting player, while the Irish coaches appear keen on Aungier.
Ulster centre Jude Postlethwaite underlined his physical prowess in two appearances before being released to his province ahead of this URC weekend, with Munster’s Seán O’Brien and Leinster’s Gus McCarthy on the same flight home.
After Munster’s relatively experienced Alex Kendellen had shone as skipper in the first two games, Leinster’s 21-year-old back row James Culhane was handed the captaincy against the Cheetahs and led by relentless example. It was a Caelan Doris-esque effort from Culhane.
Second row Evan O’Connell, a recent graduate of the Ireland U20s, demonstrated why Munster are excited about him, while Ulster lock Harry Sheridan showed his abrasive edge against the Pumas and had a start at number six versus the Cheetahs.
19-year-old loosehead prop Alex Usanov ended up being one of the good stories of the tour after his late call-up as an injury replacement for Jordan Duggan. Usanov had a tough experience in some scrums but his involvements around the pitch on tour were excellent. The sight of him and Aungier offloading before Alex Soroka’s try last night was impressive.
23-year-old Soroka was another player who stood out. The Leinster blindside/lock missed all of last season with a foot injury but clearly used that time to good physical effect. He’s bigger than before and his power was hard to miss.
Back row Seán Edogbo is another player whose physical edge stood out. He earned rave reviews for his pre-season with Munster and won most of his collisions on this trip to South Africa. His athleticism is exciting.
Lest we forget the backs, Leinster centre Hugh Cooney showed cutting edge, Ulster trialist Zac Ward was dangerous with ball in hand in his new position on the wing, Leinster wing/fullback Andrew Osborne was in fine form, and Munster fullback Ben O’Connor brought lots of energy.
Other players would have loved more game time, including Ulster academy out-half Jack Murphy who did well off the bench against the Cheetahs and the lightly-raced Ulster tighthead Scott Wilson.
As in 2022, it will be difficult to truly say how much value this tour had. We know several players involved in the trip two years ago went on to earn senior honours, soon after in some cases, but that might have happened anyway for at least a few of them.
What’s clear is that the Irish squad who travelled this time largely made the best of the opportunity. Now it’s back to work with their provinces. We might see a few of them in Ireland camp next month.
