Ireland team winners and losers: Jack Crowley’s ‘gigantic chance’ as Sam Prendergast is dropped for ‘his own good’
Ireland fly-halves Jack Crowley and Sam Prendergast with head coach Andy Farrell.
Following the announcement of Andy Farrell’s Ireland team to face England at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, here are our winners and losers.
The Ireland boss has made several changes to his matchday 23 from the team that beat Italy last time out, with alterations in the half-backs, back-row and front-row for the trip to London.
He has notably opted for a 5-3 split on the bench too, a gamble to face the English in particular, with Steve Borthwick once again going for a forward-heavy bench.
Without further ado, here are our winners and losers from the Ireland team selection for the Six Nations round three fixture.
Winners
Jack Crowley
The major talking point for this match and the entire campaign so far, in fact this has been raging on for over a year now. This week, it is Jack Crowley who has been handed the playmaking reins by Farrell, with Sam Prendergast dropping out of the matchday 23 altogether after back-to-back woeful performances.
Crowley’s shift off the bench against the Azzurri last week ended on a sour note with a painful botched penalty line kick which was a blotch on an otherwise positive shift from the Munster pivot.
He now gets the opportunity to stamp his mark from the first minute and it’s a gigantic chance for the 26-year-old as there is no better place to do so than against England at Twickenham.
A compelling shift against Borthwick’s men at the home of English rugby won’t kill off the debate but it will go a long way in tipping the scales into his favour. Johnny Sexton claims that Ireland have learnt from their prior mistakes of relying too heavily on individuals and the coaching staff will build better depth as the World Cup draws nearer. This selection is an indication that statement is in fact true but only time will tell.
Farrell has also rued the amount of backlash Prendergast has received from his performances and dropping him this week means that he is out of the direct limelight for a fortnight at least but also removes the shackles for Crowley to really strut his stuff.
Garry Ringrose
Garry Ringrose played through the pain barrier against Italy last week, seeing out the final 10 minutes of the game which put his starting role under a cloud of doubt. However, he has overcome the scare to once again fill the number 13 jersey, lining up across from Ollie Lawrence.
But even before his niggle, there were growing calls for Ringrose to be axed as the experienced midfielder hasn’t exactly shone during the opening two weeks of the Championship.
He is perhaps fortunate that the likes of Bundee Aki and Robbie Henshaw have been unavailable, limiting Farrell’s options in terms of experienced centres. On top form, Ringrose is among the best in the business, but we haven’t seen much of that lately when he has donned the green jersey.
James Ryan and Joe McCarthy
The composition of the team suggests that Farrell is expecting James Ryan and Joe McCarthy to go the distance at the Allianz with both second-rowers playing the entire 80 minutes. Tadhg Beirne could slip into the second-row later in the game, but that still leaves one of Ryan or McCarthy to play out the full match.
It’s a bit of a risk from the Irish coaching team, considering that England will change up all but two of their starting pack in the latter stages of the game.
The duo are quite clearly Farrell’s top two lock selections at the moment and have been backed to hit form against the English.
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Outside backs
Just reward for their performances last week. Jamie Osborne has been consistently solid at full-back in the absence of Hugo Keenan and will continue to marshal the backfield, where he is joined by James Lowe and Robert Baloucoune.
Lowe entered the Six Nations off the back of a torrid start to the season with Leinster and was frankly in terrible form. That was not evident against the Azzurri as he had several standout moments and looked far more commanding under the high ball.
Meanwhile, Baloucoune has been in sterling form this season and was rewarded with a start last week and took that opportunity with both hands, earning the backing of the coaches for round three too.
Tom O’Toole and Tadhg Furlong
Considering the battering the Irish scrum endured last weekend, Tom O’Toole is certainly lucky to retain his place on the bench while the same is true for Tadhg Furlong who has been promoted to the starting XV.
Furlong has pedigree and experience working in his favour and will be hellbent on repairing the reputational damage incurred from last week when he took flight against the Italians.
Ulster’s O’Toole was dominated in a similar manner, but the coaching staff insists on testing him on the left-hand side of the scrum despite Michael Milne’s solid shift in round one against France.
Josh van der Flier
Last week it was a rarity to see an Ireland team sheet for a Six Nations match without the number seven followed by ‘Josh van der Flier’. For so long, his name has been penned in the starting XV and with the daunting task of tackling a strong England team in London, it comes as no surprise that he is shunted right back onto the side of the scrum.
It’s an indication of just how highly regarded he is among the coaching team. He has had stiff competition for his role lately, with the staff finally rewarding Nick Timoney but it remains clear that when the big games come around, Van der Flier is the man that Ireland turns to.
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Losers
Sam Prendergast
In a way, Prendergast is a winner as the coaching team staff have taken him out of the spotlight and the relentless criticism of his performances as he watches on from the stands.
“Do you know what, I might be talking out of school here, but in my opinion for what’s gone on over the last year or something, especially with the keyboard warriors, I think people need to ask themselves, really, sometimes, ‘Are we Irish? Do we want people to do well or not?’” Farrell said after the win over Italy.
“Because it can be tough for these kids like, you know? I’ve seen it, to-ing and fro-ing with both of them, and both of them are strong characters. It takes a lot to break kids like that. But I’ve seen it affect people. So the keyboard warriors on Twitter, or whatever you call it now, need to cop on and try and help these kids.”
This week, Prendergast hasn’t been backed and perhaps for his own good. As much as Farrell wants to pin it all on keyboard warriors, the Leinster fly-half’s form has been a hindrance to the team in the opening two games of the tournament. There is no doubting his capabilities, but his execution and confidence have looked way off the mark.
Fly-halves are notoriously confidence players and two poor performances is something that a youngster can recover from, but three in three weeks is significantly more difficult.
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Edwin Edogbo and Cormac Izuchukwu
Farrell’s backtracking on the 6-2 bench split has had dire consequences for both Edwin Edogbo and Cormac Izuchukwu as the head coach returns to the tried and tested formula. It is certainly a gamble from Farrell as the Ireland replacements lack size and heft when compared to England’s.
It’s worth noting that Ireland managed to beat the Springboks’ 7-1 split with the traditional 5-3 split at the 2023 Rugby World Cup. However, that does not make it an easier pill to swallow for the two rising star forwards.
Untimely injuries have limited Izuchukwu’s involvement with the Test set-up but he was a real standout against the Azzurri, particularly in the lineouts – an area of the game where he could have really caused England headaches.
Meanwhile, Farrell has given racists the weekend off by giving Edogbo a rest. Perhaps it’s another ploy to protect a young player.
Harry Byrne
Farrell spoke highly of Harry Byrne last November and got him right back into the mix at the first opportunity when he linked back up with Leinster.
However, he has yet to get his opportunity this Six Nations with Ciaran Frawley preferred as the fly-half cover this weekend. The decision to go with a 5-3 bench split allows for an out-and-out fly-half cover among the replacements but instead, the head coach has opted for the versatility of Frawley along with a specialist winger in Tommy O’Brien.
O’Brien did start out as a midfielder but for the past five years or so has almost exclusively played on the wing.
Ultimately, the selections mean that Byrne must bide his time for his chance to stake his claim.
