Ireland team winners and losers: Andy Farrell backs Prendergast claiming ‘ability outweighs’ flaws while ‘under par’ star trusted to batter Springboks
Following the announcement of Andy Farrell’s Ireland team to face the Springboks on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium, here are our winners and losers.
Winners
Mack Hansen
A hat-trick against Australia in his first start at full-back for Ireland means that it was an easy decision for Farrell to retain Mack Hansen in the number 15 jersey.
The Connacht star has had another challenging year with injuries, but hit the ground sprinting against his country of birth. Farrell was somewhat forced into trialling Hansen in the role with Hugo Keenan and Jamie Osborne sidelined but it’s worked a treat.
Bundee Aki
Another benefactor from the plethora of injuries as Stuart McCloskey, and Robbie Henshaw ruled out for this fixture, as well as the aforementioned Osborne.
Bundee Aki has been a staple in the Ireland team for so long now, but recently his form has fallen off a cliff. He enjoyed a solid start to the Lions tour, but was frankly well under par in the Test matches.
He certainly has the skillset, power and drive to be a real force at the highest level, and Farrell will hope he proves just that on Saturday.
Sam Prendergast
Sam Prendergast has won the tussle for the number 10 jersey this week. The battle between him and Jack Crowley dominates the column pages of the Irish newspapers on a weekly basis, but it’s clear that Farrell rates the Leinster pivot highly.
It’s easy to see why, though, as he has a fantastic kicking, running and passing game with his defence being the only major flaw in his game.
“His ability as a fly-half far outweighs a work-on,” Farrell shot back when asked about Prendergast’s defensive woes. Hopefully for Ireland, that is the case on Saturday.
Starting against the Springboks is the biggest challenge for the young fly-half so far in his career, and a compelling performance could put the whole debate to bed… until the Six Nations, of course.
Ryan Baird
The rise of Ryan Baird continues as Farrell has not only selected him once again on the side of the scrum but may well task him with going the full 80 minutes with no back-up lock among the replacements.
Sure, he has also benefitted from the absence of the imposing Joe McCarthy, who will be missed more this weekend than he has for the rest of November, but Baird has put up his hand up both technically and physically and is well deserving of another big Test match appearance.
Tom Farrell
Tom Farrell is in line to earn just a second Test cap after being included on the bench along with Munster teammates Craig Casey and Crowley.
The outside back has more than earned his shot at a tier one top dog after a stunning run in the United Rugby Championship, where he has been arguably the form player over the last 12 months.
His ability to shift to the wing from centre may well be useful, too. As much as head coach Farrell is known for backing the tried and tested, the selection of the 32-year-old shows that form will eventually be rewarded, even if it’s because injury forces it.
Losers
Jack Crowley
This week’s loser for the starting fly-half berth. After Prendergast was escorted over his own try-line by Len Ikitau last week, many predicted that Crowley would be shunted back into the run-on team with the prospect of Jasper Wiese, Damian de Allende and co. charging down the number 10 channel.
Instead, Farrell has backed Prendergast to rise to the challenge with Crowley filling the 22 jumper once again.
Until one of the two playmakers produces a succession of standout performances in the run-on team, this debate will rage on, but that might not even settle it.
Robbie Henshaw
An untimely injury not only for Henshaw but for the team as a whole. On form, he would have surely started in the number 12 jersey over Aki but misses out completely.
It’s been a mixed bag of a year for the veteran midfielder, who would have fancied his chances of cracking the British and Irish Lions touring party, but that never materialised.
His focus now shifts to reclaiming a spot in the squad through his performances with Leinster.
Jack Conan
Caelan Doris was always going to be shifted back into the number eight jersey at some point, but an underwhelming outing against Australia and the return of Josh van der Flier made the decision all the easier for the head coach.
Conan still did enough to retain a spot in the team, but Nick Timoney and Cian Prendergast are breathing down his neck, and matters could be further complicated with the lock stocks are replenished ahead of the Six Nations.
Nick Timoney
On the topic of the Ulster back-rower, he has once again been dropped from the matchday squad. Timoney is always a consistent performer for his province and usually gets a call-up to the wider squad but never really gets the opportunity to really stamp his mark and secure a role in the matchday 23s.
Stuart McCloskey
The same applies to some degree to his clubmate McCloskey; however, the centre looked to be forcing his way up the pecking order this Autumn, only for a groin injury to curtail his progress. He did return last week, but a recurrence of that injury means that he misses the chance to take on the Boks.
Andy Farrell
“Andy Farrell has done a great job for Ireland; he is so well-respected, and players love him. He would, however, love to have more players coming through, the kind of depth that South Africa enjoys,” ex-Ireland forward Alan Quinlan remarked earlier this week.
Considering the plethora of injuries and the number of seemingly out-of-form players still selected, the Munster legend has hit the nail on the head.
Sure, there is still quality throughout the matchday 23, but one cannot help but think that the team is significantly weaker without the likes of McCloskey or Henshaw, as well as Keenan, Osborne and McCarthy.
Perhaps this spate of setbacks will serve Ireland well in the long run as they continue to build towards the World Cup, but Farrell would have much preferred to tackle the Boks with a full-strength 23.
