WHILE THERE WERE tears in the eyes of Gus McCarthy as the hooker looked up into the stand during Ireland’s anthems, his fellow 21-year-old Sam Prendergast kept his gaze down towards the ground throughout.
The out-half was alongside his older brother, Cian, and one can only imagine the strength of feeling in those moments.
It seemed as though Prendergast was keen to keep a lid on the emotions and get to kick-off for his first start in Ireland’s number 10 shirt.
The Kildare man nailed his first big involvement in the game, landing his second penalty line kick 6.5 metres out from the Fijian tryline.
Prendergast takes his time over the kick, determined to earn Ireland a lineout as close to the Fijian tryline as possible.
It’s safer to be less ambitious in these instances but the difference of a few metres is important. Because Ireland are left so close to the Fijian line, the visitors have to seriously worry about the maul threat.
The attack Ireland produce from the lineout feeds off that threat as they dummy to maul but instead break around the back with hooker McCarthy sending Caelan Doris into space for their opening try. The line kick from Prendergast certainly helped.
It’s a good start for Prendergast, who soon has his first defensive involvement.
Prendergast closes up from the backfield, where he has been covering kick space, to tackle wing Jiuta Wainiqolo as Fiji move the ball to the edge.
Out-halves tend to spend lots of time in the backfield, holding or dropping there after kicks rather than working into the frontline defence. It means they have to be alert to the need to ‘close the gate’ like this, with the other backfield defender – Jamie Osborne [yellow above] in this instance – simultaneously shifting across to cover behind them.
Prendergast completes the tackle on his inside shoulder.
But less than a minute later, just as Fiji’s attack comes to an end, Prendergast errs after closing up for a second time.
Kitione Salawa threatens the outside shoulder of Jacob Stockdale, hitching beyond him before the Ireland wing recovers to grab his jersey.
But Prendergast has already closed up, worried about Salawa breaking, and the Fiji flanker decides to dink a kick in behind Prendergast. It slices into touch but then comes the head contact from Prendergast on Salawa.
It all happens quickly but it seems that Prendergast hopes to impede Salawa from chasing his kick. The Irish out-half can’t know that Stockdale will get Salawa to ground or that the kick will go into touch so as Prendergast turns, there’s an obvious incentive to be in Salawa’s way.
However, Prendergast clearly gets it wrong and there is direct contact from his shoulder to Salawa’s jaw.
Referee Hollie Davidson decides the yellow-card threshold has been met and the incident goes to foul play review officer Andrew McMenemy in the bunker.
It’s McMenemy’s job to use World Rugby’s ‘head contact process’ to decide whether the yellow card should be upgraded to a 20-minute red card.
So in this case, head contact has occurred and there has been foul play because Prendergast’s reckless actions mean he is at fault, so the key question is the degree of danger involved.
World Rugby encourage officials to consider things like direct versus indirect contact, ‘high force versus low force’ and whether the foul play is dynamic.
In this instance, McMenemy feels that the degree of danger is not high so the card should not be upgraded. It takes nearly seven minutes for this decision to be reached, with McMenemy assessing every possible angle.
With that same time to reflect now, it seems like a justifiable call from McMenemy. It’s not a low-force connection from Prendergast but it’s not of the kind of high force we might see in a front-on tackle where the tackler is dynamically driving into a ball carrier.
It might be closer to high-force than low-force and Ireland probably wouldn’t have complained had it been red, but a yellow seems fair. There is no need for McMenemy to consider mitigation because he cannot downgrade the original yellow-card decision.
“The yellow card will remain a yellow card, not a high degree of danger,” Davidson tells the captains once she’s been informed.
“What?” exclaims Fiji’s Tevita Ikanivere as Prendergast has a wry smile.
Having surely feared his first start was over after just seven minutes, Prendergast’s task is to get his head back in the game before returning.
Making a positive contribution as soon as possible would have been his immediate goal and his first act is a good restart.
It’s a towering kick that Fiji can’t gather and Mack Hansen claims the scraps, launching Ireland instantly into an attack that ends with Eroni Mawi being shown a yellow card.
Restarts are a key part of the game for every team so nailing this underappreciated element of the game is important.
However, straight after Mawi’s yellow, there’s a setback for Prendergast.
He goes right for the corner again with the penalty but assistant referee Matthew Carley calls it touch-in-goal.
Ireland boss Andy Farrell felt it was a “harsh” call and interestingly, the smart ball data provided by Sage during games says that Prendergast’s kick went into touch 0.9 metres out from the Fijian tryline.
But Carley’s is the view that matters and he is right at the corner flag, from where he informs Davidson that the kick has gone touch-in-goal, so Fiji get a relieving 22-metre drop-out.
90 seconds later, there’s another error from Prendergast as his spiral kick down the left flies straight into touch.
The kick is obviously not what Prendergast was aiming for but the main issue for Ireland here is how they lose their way in attack before he kicks.
They receive the 22m drop-out and play through two phases before confusion descends.
Ireland are renowned for their clever set-piece plays after receiving opposition restarts and in this instance, fullback Osborne [yellow below] looks as if he’s setting up to run a strike line close to the ruck.
Prendergast also appears set to swing to the right initially but as we see below, scrum-half Craig Casey comes to the left at first before turning back to pass to Prendergast.
Casey instantly throws his arms out in frustration after passing, seemingly unhappy about the lack of clarity around him.
Osborne’s frustration is also evident as he throws his arms out at Ireland’s plan falling apart.
We don’t know what Ireland had hoped to do here but the disconnect means Prendergast has to react and he goes for a spectacular spiral down the left, putting too much on the kick.
There were a couple more instances like this from Ireland yesterday where they appeared to lose their way but that’s not altogether unexpected given the changes they had made and the inexperience of some of the players.
Fiji get a lineout in Ireland’s half and it caps a tough opening quarter for Prendergast with the yellow card, his second line kick, and this kick out on the full.
His next involvements are positive as he stands and passes under pressure from the onrushing Wainiqolo to get the ball into space soon before Cormac Izuchukwu’s non-try.
Prendergast’s ability to get the ball away means Bundee Aki can kick-start a chain of Irish offloads before they sweep back to the left, where Prendergast plays the ball out the back but Mack Hansen’s final pass to Izuchukwu is deemed to be forward.
The Ireland out-half is soon called on to make his second tackle of the game after Fiji steal an Irish lineout.
Prendergast drops in low to bring Wainiqolo to ground.
Prendergast only had to complete five tackles in this game but given that defence is something he says he has been working hard on and needs to continue to improve, he’ll be happy enough with his efforts.
But there’s no doubt that Prendergast truly comes alive when his teams have the ball.
He gets excited by the challenge of picking out space and throwing passes, short and long.
With lots of space wide on the left in the instance above on kick return, Prendergast throws the long skip pass to Robbie Henshaw.
40 seconds later, we see a different type of pass from Prendergast to open up Fiji’s defence.
The out-half [red below] is set up in the boot behind a pod of three forwards [blue].
Tadhg Beirne does an excellent job of running square at the defensive line, threatening to carry or tip-on a pass to Andrew Porter short on his left before swivelling late to sweep the ball out the back to Prendergast.
Beirne truly engages the defence and that causes strife for prop Haereiti Hetet [pink below] who bites in towards Porter, taking himself out of the game and leaving those outside him in big trouble.
So as Prendergast begins to turn the corner, straightening up his run, he can draw Fiji number eight Elia Canakaivata [dark green below], who has had to follow Hetet in.
Prendergast has a pod of two forwards outside him [purple] and Henshaw [black] out the back.
With Fiji outside centre Waisea Nayacalevu not biting in with Canakaivata and instead worrying about Henshaw out the back, Prendergast makes a good decision to play a flat pass to Josh van der Flier on the outside of the 2-pod and he breaks upfield.
Ireland are in behind and have a good chance of scoring but Prendergast is unable to get his pass away on the next phase.
The opportunity is clear but Wainiqolo manages to make a try-saving knock-on in his tackle on Prendergast.
Wainiqolo is closing quickly here in a crucial bit of defensive play but Prendergast will wonder if he could have thrown his pass a hint earlier to get it into Stockdale’s hands for a 2-on-1 with Aki outside.
Caleb Muntz is corner-flagging but Aki has serious power. Still, Ireland keep the pressure on from the ensuing scrum and soon have their third try through Casey, with Prendergast providing the touchline conversion.
The introduction of Ciarán Frawley at fullback for the injured Osborne soon before Casey’s try meant Ireland had two out-halves on the pitch and it made for interesting viewing in attack.
Frawley and Prendergast connected well within Ireland’s shape on a few occasions, including this example in the 36th minute.
Frawley [red] is in the boot behind the 3-pod [blue], while Prendergast [black] is moving to swing out the back of the 2-pod [yellow].
Beirne plays another excellent sweep pass after engaging the defence, finding Frawley out the back.
And with Fiji making a similar defensive error again as they bite in aggressively from outside, Frawley calmly plays the ball out the back of the 2-pod to Prendergast.
With the Fijian defence in disarray, Prendergast now has lots of time on the ball to assess the situation. He has Doris and van der Flier outside him, with Ireland having fallen into 1-3-2-2 shape.
Prendergast makes a good decision as he recognises that Nayacalevu [red below] is turning in, worried about a short pass to Doris, while Fiji wing Ponepati Loganimasi [yellow] is still turned out, concerned about Aki out wide.
So as he straightens up to fix Fiji lock Mesake Vocevoce in front of him, Prendergast fires a lovely pass across the face of Nayacalevu to van der Flier running into space.
Unfortunately for Ireland, van der Flier’s pass to Aki over the top of Loganimasi is inaccurate and the chance comes to nothing.
Even accounting for the poor defence from Fiji and the time Prendergast has on the ball here, it shows his ability to pick good options. He and Ireland will be well aware that the Fijian defence gave him many opportunities that better teams simply won’t.
His next duties are to show poise in the backfield, first side-stepping the onrushing Josua Tuisova before launching a big spiral from his own 22 up towards the Fijian 22, then stepping around fullback Vuate Karawalevu after fielding the return kick.
Those positive contributions help to get Ireland on the attack again and Prendergast is soon running a loop around Frawley as they connect again.
It’s excellent work from Frawley as he delays his return pass, waits for Nayacalevu to bite down onto Henshaw running the short front-door option, then releases the ball out the back just before Mawi monsters him in the tackle.
Frawley bravely ships a huge hit but it gives Prendergast time and space to turn the corner, draw in Karawalevu, and release Aki.
There are a couple more nice passes from the Irish out-half before the break, including another skip pass that invites Henshaw to challenge the edge of Fiji’s defence, as well as this snappy touch after a lineout turnover.
This example shows how Prendergast often manages to avoid getting smashed when it looks like he might just after passing. Even as he’s getting the ball across his body to pass, Prendergast is stepping downfield away from the advancing Tuisova.
Prendergast certainly has some tough moments in contact ahead of him in his career given the position he plays, but the 21-year-old appears to have a streak of self-preservation built in even while looking to engage defenders.
The first half concluded with Prendergast delivering a calm cross-field kick to Hansen for Ireland’s fourth try. It’s a left-hand-side scrum for Ireland and the pass from Casey from the base is superb, the speed of the ball giving the Irish attack an instant impetus.
With Henshaw running another threatening short line off Aki, Prendergast times his run well as he swings out the back with Stockdale before kicking wide to Hansen.
Prendergast’s depth is ideal in that he gives himself enough space to kick but he’s not so deep as to offer an obvious cue for the defence that he might kick.
The Irish out-half begins to drop the ball to his foot almost immediately upon receiving Aki’s accurate pass out the back, again meaning Fiji have no time to react.
Because Stockdale is swinging with Prendergast, Loganimasi has to stay tight and with Frawley running a flat line outside Prendergast, Fiji fullback Karawalevu also feels the need to bite in. As Prendergast instead kicks, Karawalevu slips on the turn.
It’s a pleasing end to the first half for Prendergast, with his conversion going in off the left upright.
Ireland’s phase-play attack continues to flow impressively upon the restart and another classy pass from Prendergast helps to create a try-scoring chance in the 42nd minute.
Prendergast fizzes a flat double skip pass across the face of edge defender Wainiqolo, who never really considers the possibility of this pass because Prendergast doesn’t give him obvious cues.
The Irish out-half isn’t moving at high speed but with a numbers-up situation, Prendergast squares up to engage Nayacalevu in front of him while he has the ball cocked near his right hip, ready to be released depending on how Wainiqolo reacts.
And as Wainiqolo [yellow below] begins to advance aggressively towards Gus McCarthy in front of him, Prendergast fires the flat double skip straight past him, all the while engaging Nayacalevu [red].
A try for Ireland should follow but the Fijians scramble well and Ikavivere earns a relieving breakdown turnover.
Soon after, Prendergast is inaccurate with a pass as Ireland attack from a midfield scrum.
Ireland’s starter play involves Henshaw running a late ‘overs’ line as he drifts towards the touchline.
Prendergast’s pass is at Henshaw’s back shoulder but he does well to catch it and rapidly flick the ball back inside to Frawley as Ireland make it well over the gainline.
Ireland end up going back to the penalty advantage at the scrum and Prendergast kicks them up into the Fijian 22, where they score through Aki.
The number 10 has a nice touch on the try-scoring phase as he adapts well to a mix-up when he ends up in a similar slot to Hansen.
Hansen is already out the back of the shape and looks set to receive the pass from Aki until Prendergast bursts across late and takes the ball instead.
Hansen [yellow below] is suddenly ahead of Prendergast [red] but the out-half quickly realises that if he can run at the inside shoulder of Peni Matawalu [blue] and fix him, then a short pass will slip Hansen into space.
They make it work as Hansen slides to the right, Prendergast slows up his run slightly and starts to square up, attracting Matawalu to him before slipping the ball to Hansen.
Izuchukwu throws a clever offload infield away from the touchline and Ireland score their fifth try.
Straight from the restart reception, we get another example of Prendergast’s classy passing. He sets up in the boot and takes the sweep pass from Gus McCarthy before making a good decision on the ball.
Again, Prendergast gets his option from the defence.
While he’s engaging Salawa [blue below] himself, Prendergast reads that Nayacalevu [yellow] is being enticed to hold on Frawley, the short passing option.
So Prendergast fizzes another flat skip pass wider to Aki [red].
Despite releasing the pass a split second before Salawa makes contact with him, Prendergast avoids getting levelled.
As Ireland continue to cause nightmares for Nayacalevu and co., Prendergast has more smart option-taking. His next pass comes on first phase of a lineout attack as he accepts a ‘circle’ pass out the back from Doris then gets the ball away just before Tuisova hits him.
As we see above, Prendergast goes out the back of Stuart McCloskey, whose decoy line sits Nayacalevu down, and Stockdale is able to get outside Fiji’s number 13.
Unfortunately, Stockdale injures his hamstring in this carry but Ireland make big gains down the right.
Ireland’s next attack into the 22 appears to be stuttering to a halt but Prendergast makes another good adaptation on the move as he dummies a long pass wide and instead slips McCloskey into space.
Because Prendergast has shaped to launch a long pass in the split second below, Fiji flanker Meli Derenalagi [red] leaps to try and block it, while Muntz [yellow] is advancing to shut it down.
Even as number eight Canakaivata gets close to making contact with Prendergast, the Irish out-half reacts to the defensive picture by dropping the shorter pass off to McCloskey. It’s behind the Irish centre but he reels it in and runs into space.
A few phases later, Cian Prendergast steps in at scrum-half and finds his younger brother, who rips another beautiful skip pass across the face of Nayacalevu.
Nayacalevu has bitten down on McCloskey and Ireland should score but Frawley throws a forward pass to stand-in wing Conor Murray and it’s chalked off.
From the next Irish lineout attack, Prendergast goes to his kicking game and rolls a grubber in behind the Fijians.
He takes a ball out the back from outside centre Stuart McCloskey, Ireland going one player wider with their ‘blocker’ play from the lineout. Prendergast has Hansen swinging up outside him.
There’s an option for Prendergast to shift the ball on to Hansen here but with Karawalevu jockeying out onto the Ireland wing and Vilimoni Botitu closing up from the backfield onto Murray, Prendergast looks for the space in behind.
It’s well covered by Muntz, who grounds for a goal-line drop-out.
A few minutes later, Prendergast has an interchange of passes with Casey close to a ruck in the Fijian 22 as their understanding clearly grows, while Prendergast stands in at scrum-half and Casey kicks cross-field on penalty advantage a few phases later.
The halfbacks soon have an impassioned exchange of words when Casey heeds a call from Hansen to go into the shortside despite Prendergast calling for the ball out on the openside in the 22. It’s far from unusual for halfbacks to have these angry mini-chats.
There’s another one soon after when Prendergast throws a poor pass down the left-hand side in the Fijian 22.
McCloskey can’t reel it in and it looks forward from Prendergast anyway, but the out-half reacts with some stinging words in the direction of Casey.
It’s not clear what Prendergast is aggrieved about but it seems as if he wanted the ball delivered to him earlier than it was.
Casey had been set to pass from the base of the ruck before Doris decided to pick, snipe, and offload, so that wasn’t in Casey’s control.
The bottom line is that Prendergast makes an error with his pass but we’ve seen lots of other out-halves in the past who react like this when they don’t get exactly what they want.
Prendergast slightly overcooks a chip kick from an Irish scrum in the 75th minute.
The 21-year-old is a big fan of the chip as an attacking weapon but there’s a hint too much on this one and Wainiqolo can claim it.
Prendergast goes back to his attacking kicking game soon after, cross-kicking to the left where McCloskey just can’t hold the bouncing ball.
That proves to be Prendergast’s last real involvement in the game.
All in all, it’s a debut he’ll be pleased with, particularly after his reckless tackle landed him in trouble early in the game.
There were other errors along the way but the Ireland out-half was able to show his creativity and passing range in attack against a disjointed Fijian defence that was ripe for the picking.
And as so many of these examples show, the Irish players around Prendergast made his life much easier with their good decision-making and execution.
These are early days for Prendergast but it was a promising first start at number 10.
This article is stretching it a bit – in my view Prendergast had an average performance taking everything into account.
@Keno: He definitely had a more than average game but there were a number of errors also in his game that need addressing. If you read the whole article and not just the headline you’ll see that it is very measured in its assessment. The point being made is that this guy has serious potential but a lot to work on. As O’Driscoll said of him, he has an ability to commit opposition players that not many outhalfs can do. Sexton was very good at it but it’s not part of Crowley or Frawleys skill set. Anyways I guess some people prefer misery and misfortune as opposed to a positive well articulated article
@Keno: Then you are looking at it from the wrong perspective. Every outhalf makes errors. The question is how do the errors effect the rest of their game… Sam was unperturbed, by the yellow card, kick out on the full or Matthew Carley’s terrible positioning on the kick he called dead. He still had the confidence to back his skillset and he has obviously worked on his weaknesses (tackling was one). He demonstrated so many different skills it was hard not to be impressed. He even shows the ability to assess risk and change his mind in a nanosecond if the defence reads him. I would like to see him take the ball to the line a bit more as better defences will not give him as much time on the ball. But overall, I would be happy if Easterby decided to or was forced to start him in the 6N
@anthony davoren: not sure about Crowley/ Frawley not having skill set to commit opposition players. I think both have ability to attack the line and keep defenders fixed and have done this very well in the past (especially Crowley). They don’t have exactly same style as Prendergast – I think from what I can see the biggest point of difference is the range of passing and kicking from the latter. Bear in mind also that after a several games, opponents have had a chance to analyze and see what you do / don’t do in certain situations. P has the advantage of being unknown and Fiji played into his hands. There’ll be tougher opponents down the line and we can judge better then.
@Paul Ennis: You mean the Leinster perspective?
@Thesaltyurchin: He is an Irish player first and I am an Ireland fan first. We are the only fans in world rugby who would argue about a player based on where he was born. If there were no provincial rugby (much like the amateur days) it wouldn’t even be a discussion. It was a top class first start. Joey Carberry and Johnny Sexton did not do this well on their first starts (same opposition I think). If I am not mistaken, Jack’s first start was versus Australia so that is much tougher and it was a scrappy game. Players have to build into their international careers.
@Paul Ennis: I’m a Shannon fan first (when there was no provincial rugby, (i’ll leave space here for the one nitpicker)). prefer a player focus, obviously I want Munster to do well, not a good look right now, but really I’m just addicted to the game. I would literally watch a pub team in the rain just to see a line break. Some of the stuff people genuine “believe” is silly tho
@anthony davoren: It absolutely is part of Crowley’s skill set.
This “ Adulation” of Prendegast is a bit early.
A decent performance but a lot of mistakes as well. Hope Johnny didn’t coach him his petulant habits regarding the yellow that was lucky to not be red when reviewed. Crowley against Australia
a must. Enjoyed but a very fractious game.
@Shane OHanrahan: Crowley for Oz but Prendergast is the future. Iron out the few mistakes and he can be a serious operator. Crowley hasn’t the ability to commit defenders the way Prendergast can. Also Crowley makes plenty of mistakes himself and errors in his decision making. Prendergast had a positive debut. He has serious potential… nothing wrong with getting excited about that. Doesn’t need to be all doom and gloom
@Shane OHanrahan: we talk about adulation and then say that Crowley is a must start against a side ranked 8th in the world.
There are very few “must-starts” in the Ireland team, and none are in our pool of 10s. Crowley is the top 10 in Ireland but we’re playing a poor team at home, and as Crowley is unlikely to feature in Farrell’s next squad which is for a tour against the same opposition, I wouldn’t be shocked to see him look elsewhere
@anthony davoren: Crowley was MOTM v Argentina until he was taken offf
@Shane OHanrahan: You can spot the Munster fans a mile away in a situation like this. Back in 2010 it was the exact same thing with regards to Johnny will never be good enough to replace ROG. When Jack Crowley and Joey Carberry were vying for Johnny’s jersey, Leinster fans didn’t make comments like this (at least not the majority) and in fact many were calling for a changing of the guard. This is a different scenario, because there are now 2 genuinely world class 10s to compete for the Ireland jersey. One has a bunch more experience, the other has a bunch more potential. As Ireland fans is it not possible to enjoy that without Buckingham on a lemon first? Surely we are all Irish fans together and should support players from all provinces regardless!
@Paul Ennis: *sucking. @The42 – edit button? Please? I will happily double my subscription for it!
@Paul Ennis: “Leinster fans didn’t make comments like this” wow Paul.
@Thesaltyurchin: I did put a caveat in there too
@Paul Ennis: absolutely correct. And ROG had it too from Ulster supporters when he broke through.
Jack Crowley is already an established Ireland player. I sense that some of the hyper-sensitivity around him is due to the fear that he isn’t going to be the automatic choice for 2 or 3 World Cup cycles as ROG and Sexton were. The reality is that nobody is going to have that status, because we’re producing a lot of quality players in that position now.
What’s exciting now is that we could have a talent pool of 2, 3 or even 4 quality 10s in the next 4 years.
The depressing thing about this is that it is clearly stoking parochial biases around selection and the uniquely Irish desire to have an untouchable 10 who needs to be backed rather than a meritocracy.
Sam is raw at this level and it showed on the weekend, which Jack isn’t. WC QF tomorrow, you pick Jack. But what Sam brings to the table already is beyond the capabilities of any other 10 in Ireland too and his rawness will fade with experience.
Jack is top choice 10 for Ireland right now, but let’s be honest he’s no ROG or Sexton despite the desperation to have a player selected for a generation. Despite Jack being #1, I wouldn’t be in the slightest bit surprised if Farrell gives Prendergast the jersey next weekend given he’s a Lions bolter candidate which Crowley probably isn’t.
@Gavin Healy: Hopefully this will all be academic in a couple of years if Caspar Gabriel continues his progress.
@John Morris: let him play professional rugby first before we judge.
@Richard: prendergast did need to play pro rugby before he was anointed sextons successer
@Patrick O’Sullivan: did=didn’t
@Gavin Healy: yeah I feel Munster fans get defensive about Crowley when we talk about Prendergast but they don’t see the potential for Ireland here , if Sam were at any other province I would still be very excited
@Gavin Healy: Well said
@Patrick O’Sullivan: Richard was referring to Casar Gabriel
@Gavin Healy: Some sense finished by total conjecture, like you remember either RoG OR Sexton at this age, to say that you think anyone running out for Ireland doesn’t have the potential to play at the top level is disingenuous at best. Subtle trolling, like you’ve zipped up your troll costume
@Gavin Healy: A Lions bolter-Really. russell, smith, Crowley might disagree. This isn’t hype then. This isnt getting carried away then. This isnt being the new breed of haughty Irish fan. This isnt disrespecting Crowley. This isnt Leinster only bias. I need to reset my thinking it seems. A new paradigm of humility and positivity exists.
@JJB: Russell and Smith wouldn’t be “bolters”, they’d be the opposite.
Prendergast potentially could be one, maybe he won’t be. The quality in that position in the Lions countries is not quite what it was 4 years ago and if there is to be a boot out of the blue selection in the squad, which there often is, it could well be that.
@Thesaltyurchin: That sums up the parochial stuff that we’re going to have every time now.
Who questions his “potential” to play at the “top level”. Jack IS playing at the top level for Munster and IRL and he is currently our first choice 10. He’s doing it. As for “conjecture”, surely what would be conjecture is the opposite, to say that he is at the ROG/Sexton level, two of the all time greats. He’s not, and those players were more advanced at 25 which he is in a few weeks. If he does scale those heights it would great for everyone who wants to see Ireland succeed. Prendergast’s level at this age is comparable to ROG at 21, and higher than Sexton. But as the careers of the likes of Carbery, O’Connor, Cipriani, Williams, Henson etc prove, potential isn’t always fulfilled at 10.
@Gavin Healy: you said a giy who has played a game v Fiji won in the first 15 minutes when he wasn’t playing is a bolter for the Lions. To me this is crazy rhetoric….. and smacks of either stupidity or leinster based arrogance.
@JJB: I said he is a Lions bolter candidate. Which shouldn’t be disagreeable if you understand what “bolter” and “candidate” mean instead of looking for slights on players from your favourite team where there none.
If he is the first choice Leinster 10 in the business end in the season, which is likely, and gets at least the same time in the 6 Nations that the challengers to Crowley got this year, which again is likely, of course he is potentially a bolter. Which as I am sure everyone else understands is not a prediction that he will be in the squad.
@Gavin Healy: bolter and candidate dont belong in the same sentence. You said this guy Predergast is a bolter for the Lions. The Lions selection is based on empirical evidence not conjecture or hype. I believe this to be massive hyping up based on a very tiny sample size. Crazy talk ….
@JJB: that’s a rather confusing post. I can only conclude that you have a significantly different understanding of “bolter candidate” than I have. I’ve given you the benefit of the doubt and clearly explained what I meant, but if you want to argue that I meant someone different then there’s really much more that I can add.
@JJB: just to add though, and please don’t take this the wrong way, as you mentioned Smith and Russell in relation to bolters (presumably you think it means bolted on) genuinely your understanding of the term is wrong. I understand that the tone of your posts comes from astonishment that anyone is predicting Prendergast will make the Lions squad on the basis of 1 start and 1 appearance off the bench. But your interpretation is based on a misunderstanding.
@Gavin Healy: a bolter to me is a dead cert – no subjectivity. So good that being picked is not even a discussion point. You are suggesting this about a guy who is not fully developed yet, who is too tal for OH in the conventional sense (it might be an outlier) and who played well in a game won to all intents and purposes when he was in the sin bin. This is why I call it crazy talk. Also, Crowley is a top notch operator who hasnt done anything to merit demotion.
@JJB: yes I figured that’s what you thought it meant. It’s worth a quick Google if you still think so.
Given that, I expect that in reality our opinions on selections and Crowley aren’t actually far apart
@JJB: Smith was a Lions injury-cover “bolter” in 2021 with only 13 England caps (surprisingly only 2 off the bench, but Farrell-junior was at 12 for most/all of the starts).
So Gatland opted for an inexperienced (4th) 10 as injury cover after Russell was injured, despite the very experienced Sexton being at home on 90+ caps and by his own admission having kept training “just in case”.
Prendergast could have 5-7 caps by the end of the 6N.
If Farrell feels confident about a Lions series v Aus (tbc after this weekend), then I could see him certainly picking Prendergast as injury cover if one of his first 3 picks (3 from Russell/Smith/Crowley/Farrell/Ford).
The benefit to Farrell-senior is that he gets Prendergast into another top-level set-up for 3-4 weeks and then when Faz is back with Ireland he reaps the benefit of that extra hot-housing for Prendergast.
ROG said that being on the 2005 tour watching how Wilkinson focused on personal prep & in training made ROG realise how much he needed to up his own mindset/approach.
So maybe Andy would aim to reap a similar impact on Prendergast across 2026/27 6Ns & 2027 RWC?
Personally I think there is a case for bringing Russell OR Smith as the flair-10, with one of Crowley/Farrell/Ford as the steady-Eddy to close out a game.
If Andy decides he is happy with just 1 of each option, not clones, that would leave a slot for a young tyro 10 for the whole tour.
(If either of the flair/steady options gets injured, then the appropriate clone could be flown out to replenish the vacant slot.)
That would give Andy 8-10 weeks of hot-housing of Sam.
I’m not saying it definitely will happen or that it would be fair to whichever of Russell/Smith or Farrell/Crowley/Ford would be left in the UK,
but it is possible to see Prendergast getting on the plane either as a “bolter” pick for the whole tour or more likely as an injury-cover call-up from the Ireland tour of Georgia/Romania.
(Whereas Farrell/Ford are unlikely to be playing-condition on the England tour of Argentina.)
So that settles it then… it IS the second coming of Christ!!
@Paul Ennis: we are definitely too quick to anoint young players in Ireland and I think this is one of the reasons coaches are reluctant to throw them early like in France where it’s the norm. It would be interesting to see who Cullen really believes to be his best OH if he was free from interference and pressure. I think it would still be Ross Byrne , not that I agree with that choice.
Wow looking at that you wonder if AF will start him v Aus? A few mistakes but his passing , kicking and general instincts are phenomenal
@Owen ODonoghue: No, I’d be fairly certain Crowley will start. 1 Farrell doesn’t want to start his series of matches against Oz with a L. 2 he knows Joe Schmidt’s ability to analyze IRL and spot weaknesses. A young inexperienced 10 would be gold dust for Schmidt potentially.
@Owen ODonoghue: Crowley misses a kick and he’s relegated to AIL, Sam? All good. Just sayin, double standards and hypocrisy on show for plenty to see.
@Thesaltyurchin: This is not true Salty. Nobody was on Jack’s case over missing a kick (at least no genuine supporters were – remember I have alot of the goms muted) Johnny missed the kick of his life v NZ in 2013 and my son never forgave him. He was 11 at the time and he still argues with me about it. I remember Irish fans whistling and shouting at Johnny before every kick in the Aviva before ROG retired! Where were those “fans” from?
@Thesaltyurchin: I think that is very far removed from reality. Crowley’s rise to get the 10 shirt has been as universally welcomed and encouraged as any I can think of since David Humphries.
The emergence of ROG as a contender was met with a nasty parochial resentment, as was the emergence of Sexton. We’re evidently seeing it with Prendergast now that there is a potential for competition again.
If Farrell starts Crowley, fair enough as he’s our first choice and it’s the last game. If he starts someone else, again fair enough as Crowley was selected for the two big games and it’s worthwhile trying different options.
@Gavin Healy: Would agree, I only have a problem when people make up the future using their own presumed imaginings as fact, like when people say someone “ceiling is higher” that’s totally made up just to support the belief that person has. People engaging the digital world should probably read The Four Agreements first
@Thesaltyurchin: Yes of course all the talk of ceilings is subjective and speculative.
I think it is fair to say that Prendergast has a very high level of ability relative to most others. If he continues to develop as test players do, then that “ceiling” is massive. But it’s fluff.
Most players do not progress like that. And there have been players like Joey Carbery, Danny Cipriani, Quade Cooper, James O’Connor, Gavin Henson and many many more who have been the “high ceiling” players and have failed to make the impact that Crowley has. If Prendergast develops in the next 4 years at the rate that Crowley did, then he’ll be a special player. Most don’t.
As only a decade-old Irish Rugby fan and a lifelong American Football fan, I both admit lack of deep sophisticated while calling this the least nuanced display of understanding of physics I have ever seen in sports.
Forget half speed.
At full speed, it is clear Pendergast realizes he can’t make tackle, turns his back to attacker to nudge him out of bounds
At no point was the attacker in danger of HIA
Which is the point
Pendergast did everything he could to avoid HIA.
Attacker has option to run into touch. Choses not to.
Which is why nothing called on field and replay only reason for penalty.
Should have been no yellow and for sure no red. Get the heck into touch or take the contact.
Can’t believe even a question
Sincerely,
Marc (Cass) from Chicago by way of Galway