ANDY FARRELL HAS never been afraid to throw fresh faces in at the deep end, and that looks set to continue when the Ireland head coach names his squad for next month’s international series later today.
All eyes will be on the players Farrell selects at hooker, with his options seriously depleted by a string of injuries. Dan Sheehan is unavailable until the New Year as he recovers from an ACL injury, Rónan Kelleher recently had a procedure on an ankle problem, while Ulster pair Rob Herring and Tom Stewart have yet to play this season due to their own injury issues.
The knock-on effect is that a door may be opened for Leinster academy hooker Gus McCarthy.
The 21-year-old only debuted for Leinster last April but has featured four times this season – starting in the wins against Edinburgh, Dragons and Connacht – while also featuring twice for Emerging Ireland.
McCarthy has come through the Irish underage systems – captaining the Ireland U20s to Grand Slam success and a World Cup final in 2023 – and this year he’s seen his progression accelerate due to Leinster’s injury logjam at hooker, with Lee Barron joining Sheehan and Kelleher on the sidelines since the win against Munster at Croke Park.
Yet the Test arena is a different animal and would be a huge step for a player still only new to senior provincial rugby. When asked if McCarthy would be ready to jump into an Ireland camp, Leinster assistant coach Jacques Nienaber backed the former Blackrock College man but added had a word of warning.
“Obviously international rugby is completely different, it’s definitely a level up, it’s just a different game,” Nienaber said.
The space, the time, the consequence of your actions, a lot more, the pressure is more, so that is the next step for him.
“Obviously it would be brilliant if he gets the opportunity from a club point of view, getting exposure to that level.
“It opens up your eyes, you don’t know what it is until you are there and you experience it, then coming back, like all the Emerging Ireland guys, until you get the exposure whether it is Emerging Ireland or Ireland, it’s not Leinster, so if you don’t perform, the country loses, not just the club or the province, it’s the whole country that suffers.
A smart running line from Leinster academy hooker Gus McCarthy.
— Murray Kinsella (@Murray_Kinsella) October 22, 2024
Identifies Connacht centre David Hawkshaw retreating into the defensive line after a tackle, goes after the space just outside him. pic.twitter.com/qynrU12SDG
“That pressure is good for them to experience because they can handle bigger pressure when they come back to us.”
Nienaber has also been impressed with Leinster out-half Sam Prendergast, who looks set to continue his rise in next month’s international window.
Prendergast was included in Farrell’s Ireland squad for the summer Test series against the Springboks and started all three games for Emerging Ireland on their tour to South Africa last month.
“If I think of Sam last year, Sam was an academy guy who maybe had one or two caps under their belt, obviously got some exposure last year, trying to bleed him into URC games and then giving him some exposure in European games and then a player develops his craft, his skillset.
“So obviously he got a shot out with the Emerging Ireland team. What I’ve seen with Sam, I think everybody knows that he had a variety of skillsets and a good rugby brain on him and a big skillset. The main thing is that Sam must get experience to be confident playing at that level but also an experience to be confident running a team.”
Towards the of last season Prendergast was presented with an opportunity to join Connacht on loan but turned down the move in order to fight for minutes with his home province.
Nienaber feels the decision was the right one, given it directly pits Prendergast against some of the players competing with him for a place in Ireland squads.
“I think it depends on what your ultimate goal is, if Sam’s is to represent Ireland and be the starting 10, he’s going to have to lift the players in this environment anyway.
“You can go away and try and lift them there, or you can stay here and lift them here and lift them out of your way if that’s your goal.
“I always find it fascinating if players want to leave but they know that their best opposition as regards they are trying to bypass are here in the building.
“I would much rather stay here to see what they are doing and to do get measured daily against them, than don’t know what they doing and how they are developing. If I was a player, I would stay as close to my closest competition as I could.”
