Andy Farrell has named his Ireland squad to face England in the Six Nations this Saturday afternoon.
The Irish head coach has made five changes to the side that earned a win over Italy last weekend with the most notable selection seeing Jack Crowley promoted from the bench to the starting fly half position while Sam Prendergast drops out of the matchday squad entirely.
Farrell has also brought Jamison Gibson Park back into the scrum half position to partner Crowley replacing Craig Casey, while returning to the forward pack are a trio of British and Irish Lions in Tadhg Furlong, Tadhg Beirne and Josh van der Flier.
There was an expectation that Prendergast would be withdrawn from the starting XV for this game due to his recent struggles in this Six Nations campaign, however, the surprise comes in the 23-year-old not being included at all in the matchday squad as the more versatile Ciaran Frawley gets the nod to be part of the replacements.
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Farrell has justified his decision to do so, as he said: “Well, Sam’s [Prendergast] a fantastic international player. He’s on a journey that’s obviously learning like all of us. That will never stop.
“We’ve talked all along about the four lads competing against one another (Prendergast, Crowley, Frawley and Harry Byrne) and the balance is right for this team this weekend.”
The surprise around the selection of Frawley over Prendergast comes due to the cold shoulder the Australian born back has experienced over the past couple of years from Farrell.
While he has routinely been selected for the Ireland squad and training camps, he has not featured for the nation since his poor performance off the bench against New Zealand in November 2023.
However, Farrell has given him his backing for this trip to Twickenham as he said: “He’s 100 percent excited. He’s been certainly frustrated with the lack of game time, certainly in the autumn.
“And from what we’ve seen in training, how sharp he is and how eager he is to get going and the balance that he gives us on the bench, he’ll be ready to go.”
Ireland lost the last time these two sides squared off in London when a last-gasp Marcus Smith drop goal earned England a 23-22 victory to end Ireland’s hopes of securing back to back Grand Slams.
Farrell will hope they can right the wrongs of their last trip to Twickenham and make it six wins from their last seven against the English, knowing how important this fixture is for both sides ambitions in this year’s competition.
He said: “Games between the two sides have been nip and tuck over recent times and there’s great familiarity and respect across both camps. We know their strengths and our aim is to deliver the best version of ourselves to put us in a position to get the performance that we want.
“Backed by thousands of travelling Irish supporters who come from all over the world whenever we play in Twickenham, it will be another special occasion and a challenge we’re excited to face.”
Topics: Rugby, Rugby Union
Brendan McGilligan