Ireland team: Winners and losers as Sam Prendergast handed ‘reality check’ after France ‘mare’ while Jack Crowley emerges ‘out of the shadows’
Jack Crowley (left) and Sam Prendergast (right) have swapped places this weekend.
Following Ireland’s team announcement for his side’s clash with Italy in round five of the Six Nations, here are our key winners and losers from Simon Easterby’s selection.
Winners
Jack Crowley
After patiently waiting for his shot, Jack Crowley is finally thrown into the starting lineup. The Munsterman seemed to be Andy Farrell’s long-term project this time last year, after a standout Six Nations campaign in a title-winning team, but since the Autumn has been pushed to the side for the Sam Prendergast experiment. Crowley has given a decent account of himself off the bench this Championship, almost single-handily beating England in round one upon his arrival, and there’s no reason he can’t excel now he’s out of the shadows.
Jack Conan
Leinster forward Jack Conan has been exceptional this Six Nations, albeit from the bench, but now he gets the chance to show what he can do in Ireland’s full-noise back-row. Conan deputised well for skipper Caelan Doris against Wales, but now he will start alongside him and could form a formidable combination. It’s a just reward given his form this Championship, and a good game from the off could push him up Farrell’s Lions list.
Robbie Henshaw
Wasn’t his day against France, but he’s been given another chance to prove his quality this weekend in his preferred position. Henshaw has been forced to either start at 13 or wait for a go off the bench at 12, but now he will get to show what he can do in this spot in the starting XV. He also reunites with Leinster colleague Garry Ringrose too, which is a partnership that has clearly worked this season.
Garry Ringrose
He’s lucky to even be available for this game, let alone feature in the starting XV. There’s no doubting Garry Ringrose’s quality, and he will be a welcome returnee to the run-on side, but he was on the end of some good fortune as the Leinster clash against Cardiff was included in his suspension rather than this Test match. Incredibly lucky for Ringrose, but that in itself creates a bit of pressure as he now has to go and deliver.
Gus McCarthy
Young hooker Gus McCarthy has seen his stock rise dramatically over the past year, and he seems to be right in the mix to feature heavily in Ireland’s upcoming rebuild. His inclusion over Ronan Kelleher – who was understood to be in contention this weekend after injury – and Rob Herring shows just how highly thought of he is by Easterby and to some extent Farrell too, and this will be yet another brilliant experience for him in his early Test career. One for the future.
Jack Boyle
His selection is certainly on merit, but it’s also a symbolic passing of the baton at loosehead. Cian Healy has been a consistent part of the Ireland match-day team since his debut back in 2009, but with the Leinster prop announcing his retirement during the fallow week and now missing out on selection, the torch has been passed onto Boyle to replace him. He will do the great Healy justice though, given his barnstorming debut.
Tadhg Furlong
It’s been a long, long wait for Tadhg Furlong, but the tighthead is now back in the Test picture.?The 33-year-old has struggled with a calf injury this year, and not featured for the men in Green since the summer, but his return is a much-welcome boost for Easterby.?Furlong has set the standard for modern-day props with his deft handling, elusive feet and superb scrummaging, and should have an immediate impact on his return.
Injured stars
Elsewhere, James Lowe and Mack Hansen have overcome knocks to return to Easterby’s starting XV. The pair have become such an integral part of this Ireland side in recent years, but the manner of last weekend’s defeat was the concrete evidence of this. Another huge boost for the men in Green.
Losers
Sam Prendergast
Last weekend was by far his worst performance to date in a green jersey, and he’s now facing the repercussions for it with a demotion to the bench. Whilst he is still finding his feet at Test level, and will no doubt be a pivotal player for Ireland for years to come, the mare he had against Les Bleus probably showed just where he is in his development right now. He just lacked any sense of composure when put under pressure, which is something Ireland – or any Test side for that matter – desperately need from their fly-half and now will have to watch Crowley instead. Again, he should be one of the greats, but this is a big reality check for him.
Joe McCarthy
His brainless yellow card has proved costly as he too now finds himself on the bench. Whilst he will still likely be in contention for the Lions this summer, it’s not been the best Six Nations for the imposing lock and this is the latest sign of how his stock has fallen this year. The combination of James Ryan and Tadhg Beirne is also proven at Test level, so it McCarthy could have a fight on his hands to get back into the starting team moving forward.
Bundee Aki
Another man who has faced the wrath of Easterby after the France defeat is Bundee Aki. The centre can certainly feel hard done by to be on the bench this weekend, though, given his form throughout the Championship, but the head coach has wielded his axe across the whole squad and, unfortunately, Aki was another one to catch a blow. He was exceptional off the bench against Wales earlier in the Six Nations, and you’d expect he will be revved up this weekend too.
Cian Healy
One of the great servants of Irish rugby has officially played his final game, as Cian Healy misses out on selection. As mentioned above, the selection of Boyle feels very much like a symbolic passing of the torch, but it still would have been nice to give Healy one final Test. Instead, he now gets to put his feet up and watch.
Calvin Nash
It’s been a frustrating Six Nations for Calvin Nash, who once again finds himself out of the 23. He was thrown in at the last minute against France, with James Lowe going down in the warm-up, but he didn’t take the chance to stake a claim for the shirt as his yellow card ultimately proved match-defining. That felt a golden opportunity for him, but instead, he is again on the sidelines.
Jamie Osborne
Again, he just couldn’t quite grasp the opportunity Easterby gave him last weekend. Whilst he didn’t do much wrong against France, he didn’t do much right either and to crack into this Ireland backline you cannot just coast through. Osborne’s versatility makes him a great asset, but the Irish backline is incredibly settled so to break into it you need to really take things up a gear and excel, and he just wasn’t able to do that.
Ryan Baird
After starting in their opener against England, Ryan Baird has seen himself fall right down the pecking order and now sits outside of the 23. He falls into a strange category though, almost doing the same job as Tadhg Beirne in terms of covering both lock and flanker, but leapfrogging Beirne is not an easy job and he hasn’t been able to do that. Elsewhere, the performances of Conan have seen him demand a start too, and with Peter O’Mahony ending an illustrious career this weekend he was never going to win that spot either. A real shame for him, but it’s probably reflective of where he’s at right now in the pecking order.