SIMON EASTERBY REFLECTED on a positive outing for his Emerging Ireland players after watching the tourists record a deserved 36-24 win against the Pumas in Bloemfontein yesterday.
Despite only linking up as a squad for the first time last Wednesday, Easterby’s players produced some incisive moments in attack as they ran in six tries, with a handful of lapses in defence the only real blemish from an encouraging afternoon for his young group.
Yesterday’s game was the first stop on Emerging Ireland’s three-match tour, and ahead of Sunday’s meeting with Western Force, Easterby felt there was plenty to be pleased about in the performance.
“I thought on the whole we were outstanding and everyone showed up really well,” Easterby said.
“Obviously the Pumas have had a Currie Cup campaign to prepare for this game, we’ve had six or seven days, but I think to a man our guys stepped up to the challenge and I think these tours are always going be challenging, they’re always going to put us under pressure for the time [together], but we certainly wouldn’t look for any excuses in terms of our preparation.”
There were a number of standout individual performances, with Ulster’s Cormac Izuchukwu strong in contact, Munster’s Ben O’Connor confident in possession and Ulster winger Zac Ward using his pace to beat three defenders as he ran in the opening try of the game.
Ward was a key player for the Ireland Sevens before switching to 15s and signing a short-term contract with Ulster this summer.
“He was excellent,” Easterby said of Ward.
“Goodie [Andrew Goodman, backs coach] said it earlier, just looking forward to seeing Zac break tackles, beating people one-on-one, you could see out there he did that countless times.
“Shifting to Sevens to 15s is a really… We want to see those guys do that. Conditioning and fitness, it’s a different game, he stood up really well, he started to cramp up toward the end of the game but stayed in the game, he showed up really well.
“He should be really pleased the way he went about his business, Zac will feel there are still things he is continuing to learn in the 15s game about that position, he’s not familiar with [playing there].”
Out-half Sam Prendergast also had some nice touches on the ball but will have been disappointed to put too much weight on some of his kicks from hand.
“Sam was great. I think he had a pretty good platform to work off. The forwards gave him some really good, front foot ball. That, like any 10, you’re probably only as good as those guys around you.
Sam coming on this tour, it was crucial that he gets a chance to lead and step up and take control. The time that he was on the pitch, I thought he did that really well.
“He’s a laid back character, but outside of that sort of exterior, he’s a real competitor and he drives the team really well. I thought he had driven the team throughout the week really well and that led to some really good performances in attack from him and all the players around him.”
Easterby’s front row found themselves in a good battle at the scrum against a powerful Pumas pack, winning an early penalty through tighthead Jack Aungier before seeing the momentum swing in the second period.
“I thought the scrum was really good,” Easterby said.
“You know, you just look at the guys that we had in that front row, very limited URC and provincial experience. So we were really pleased with the way those guys went.
“I think some interpretation of the laws from the referee meant that we came on the wrong side of a couple of calls, but we’ll adjust if we need to, and Fogs [John Fogarty, scrum coach] will have them in a really good place to play the Force.
“So yeah, really pleased with the way the boys went. We got good minutes out of those guys that started and we got a really good hit out of the guys who came off the bench and they added as well.”
On the injury front, Munster prop Mark Donnelly is set for a scan on an ankle injury, while Leinster winger Rob Russell was removed after just 20 minutes with a hand injury, which will be assessed today.
