YOU HAVE TO wonder what Richie Murphy was thinking as he watched Emerging Ireland getting their trip to South Africa off to a winning start in Bloemfontein today.
Murphy and his Ulster team are in South Africa right now too, albeit 1,000km away in Cape Town as they prepare for this weekend’s URC visit to the Bulls in Pretoria.
Murphy’s men lost to the Lions last Saturday in the heat of Johannesburg and though they did pick up a bonus point for scoring four tries, it was a tough outing.
Two players who might have made an impact last weekend and against the Bulls this Saturday are Cormac Izuchukwu and Harry Sheridan. The former became the key ball-carrier at blindside for Ulster last season under Murphy, while the latter has been an aggressive, physical presence in the second row for the province.
Instead of being with Ulster in South Africa, they’re with Emerging Ireland in South Africa.
Jude Postlethwaite is another in the latter camp who Ulster would probably love to have on board right now given that Stuart McCloskey has been ruled out of the Bulls game with injury, leaving them short of midfield options.
Izuchukwu, Sheridan, and Postlethwaite played for Emerging Ireland in today’s 36-24 win over the Pumas, who had some good moments but were fairly poor overall. The contest was certainly nowhere near what awaits Ulster in Pretoria this weekend.
In that sense, it’s obvious to wonder whether someone like Izuchuwku would be better off with his province, racking up more URC appearances at an important time in the URC season.
The 24-year-old was superb for Emerging Ireland today, making a statement as early as the fourth minute with a breakdown turnover as the Pumas threatened the Irish tryline.
While Izuchukwu had one loose offload directly to a Pumas player, nearly everything else he did was of a high quality.
He won another breakdown turnover in the Irish 22, got up explosively for a lineout steal in the same area of the pitch, and took his try powerfully from a few metres out just before half time, having had the presence of mind to pop off the deck for Darragh Murray to score a little earlier in the first half.
Izuchukwu was called ashore 10 minutes into the second half, the Irish coaches seemingly keen to keep him fresh with two games against the Western Force and the Cheetahs to come in the next week.
Head coach Simon Easterby said pre-tour that Emerging Ireland wanted to see Izuchukwu in the second row so it will be interesting to note how he is used in the other matches but this outing against the Pumas surely didn’t teach the coaches anything they didn’t already know. At the same time, the performance underlined why Ireland rate him so much.
And as they repeatedly pointed out during the more controversial 2022 tour and again this time, the Emerging Ireland trip is not just about matchday. The intense two-week period together in camp is just as valuable, the coaching staff feel.
That’s where they get a deeper appreciation for players’ personalities, work ethic, ability to learn, approach to analysis, interaction within a squad, leadership, and plenty more. It’s also where they get to hone in on any weaknesses they see in someone like Izuchukwu’s game, preparing him for greater challenges that may be ahead.
If this brief trip to Bloemfontein for the Toyota Challenge means Izuchukwu is better primed to make a big impact if and when he gets a senior Ireland debut, they’ll justifiably believe it has been worthwhile. The Irish coaches would probably also argue that Ulster will get a better player in the long run, even if there is short-term frustration.
All of this is true of several other players on the Emerging Ireland tour, the more senior figures who could have been involved with their provinces at this stage of the URC season.
Out-half Sam Prendergast was on the senior Ireland tour to South Africa back in June but like Izuchukwu, he didn’t get his first cap. This Emerging Ireland tour is a chance for the Irish coaching staff to keep his understanding of their game progressing through hands-on coaching from Easterby, Paul O’Connell, John Fogarty, and Andrew Goodman.
Judging from the outside, it’s difficult to be certain exactly how prominent a role the 2022 Emerging Ireland tour played in several of that squad kicking on to senior caps. Some of them would have made that step anyway because of their talent. But most of the players themselves have said it was important, as did the Irish coaching staff.
So the IRFU decided to plough on with it again and while there was far more warning for the provinces and this Emerging squad is less experienced overall than last time, there are still a few cases like Izuchukwu where the provinces are affected.
The number one priority in the Irish rugby system is the senior men’s national team, so everything is subservient to the success of that team.
And the value of the tour for the younger players is obvious. Ulster and Murphy will surely have been delighted to see his son, out-half Jack, who joined their academy only months ago, coming on in place of Prendergast and doing well.
They’ll have been thrilled to see Zac Ward – who was sensational for the Ireland 7s before this switch back into 15s in a new position on the wing – scoring an excellent try and learning some crucial defensive lessons.
There’s every chance that Murphy and Ward will go back to Ulster with their confidence hugely boosted by this Emerging Ireland tour, which is also true of Postlethwaite, Izuchukwu, Sheridan, and tighthead prop Scott Wilson who didn’t feature today.
Ulster will be delighted for all of them but the dichotomy between what’s best for the provinces and what’s best for the Irish national team is built into Emerging Ireland.
