AMONG THE DIFFERENT strands of the Emerging Ireland squad are the two men who will be heading back to South Africa for the second time in the space of three months.
While Simon Easterby’s squad includes a quartet of youngsters who just graduated from the Ireland U20s, there are also two members of Andy Farrell’s senior Ireland squad from the two-Test tour against the Springboks in July.
Cormac Izuchukwu and Sam Prendergast didn’t get their first senior caps on that trip but they are clearly part of the plan at that level, which makes their inclusion for Emerging Ireland all the more interesting.
Izuchukwu became a starter for Ulster at blindside flanker when Richie Murphy took over in the second half of last season and the 24-year-old looks sure to be an important player for the northern province again in the months ahead. In that sense, he’s a little unique in this Emerging Ireland squad, which is mainly made up of players who haven’t been first-choice in their provinces yet.
For Ulster, losing Izuchukwu for Rounds 2, 3, and 4 of the URC season is undoubtedly a blow, particularly given that they’re off to South Africa to face the Lions and Bulls after this weekend’s opener against champions Glasgow.
Given that Izuchukwu was on the Emerging Ireland tour back in 2022, Ulster probably hoped he wouldn’t feature this time around, but Ireland’s coaches believe he can benefit from another stint with them. As with 2022, Farrell will not be on the Emerging Ireland tour.
Easterby, who will step up as interim head coach in Farrell’s absence next year, explained that they want to push Izuchukuw’s development as a lock as he gets to work closely with forwards coach Paul O’Connell and scrum coach John Fogarty.
“Izzy is someone that had a good bit of game time at the end of last season with Ulster but we still want to grow his experience and grow the depth more at lock than at six but we know he can play both positions,” said Easterby.
“We want him to step up and lead in terms of calling at lineout time and leadership around the field. So for him, it is a continuation of his development and progression.
“I’m not saying he wouldn’t get game time with Ulster, obviously he would, but in particular for him to be working with Paulie and Fogs again and the work he will be doing with Goody [Andrew Goodman] in attack, it is a good progression in his development.”
Prendergast, meanwhile, is coming into the new season intent on stepping up at out-half for Leinster, where a ferocious battle for the number 10 shirt lies ahead, but he will travel with Emerging Ireland as Easterby and co. assess his ability to lead a team.
“With Sam, again, he would get time with Leinster no doubt over the next few weeks but he wasn’t given the opportunity to lead the week in South Africa because he didn’t get game time and we want to see him under a bit of pressure and challenge him to see how he can lead a week as a number 10,” said Easterby.
“The challenges of playing URC are great but playing away from home in international rugby in a green jersey and leading that, he hasn’t done that since the 20s so that is another way of building his development. Like Izzy, he did really well on tour but didn’t get the opportunity to play.”
The last Emerging Ireland tour helped the likes of Jack Crowley, Joe McCarthy, and Calvin Nash convince the Irish coaches that they were ready to kick on into senior Test rugby sooner rather than later. And the hope is for something similar this time.
For the likes of Izuchukwu and Prendergast, this trip to South Africa is a chance to stake their claim for senior Ireland debuts in November.
“Yeah, for sure, that’s exactly what we want,” said Easterby. “We know there is a medium- to long-term outlook for this tour but certainly in the short-term we need to build depth in every position and there is no closed book.
“We need to make sure that we have the best players available to us in November and then the Six Nations. There is also an A fixture in the Six Nations [against England A on 23 February], there is a summer tour and a Lions tour.
“Who knows? Genuinely, it is a great challenge for these players and an opportunity for them and us to see who can step up and make it difficult not to pick them in November or the Six Nations.”
The last time around in 2022, the Emerging Ireland tour came out of the blue and caused major friction between the IRFU and the provinces, who were frustrated at their seasons being disrupted just as they began.
That has been less the case this time, with the tour flagged well in advance. There will still be challenges for the provinces with players who would have featured in their matchday 23s being absent, but Easterby said it has been a smoother process with give and take on both sides.
“The provinces have been excellent,” said Easterby. “David [Humphreys, the IRFU's performance director], Faz and myself have all been in constant contact with the provinces and head coaches around individual players.
“We are trying not to compromise their preparation as much as we can. We know that there is no ideal timeframe around this type of tour. Based around what happened last time and how we were able to get to work with those players, six of them progressed to senior international rugby over the course of those intervening years, so we all believe it is an important thing.
“It is a great exercise that might feel at times that it is compromising a little bit but I think in the long run it has been very valuable.
“I’m not saying it’s a perfect scenario at all but hopefully come the end of it, both sides win and most importantly, we get the players for a period and they get to understand what we are about as a set-up and as an environment and the challenges of international rugby, etc. Hopefully, it can be a win-win.”
