Andy Farrell explains Sam Prendergast selection and demands more from Jack Crowley
Ireland head coach Andy Farrell says that 20-year-old Sam Prendergast is ready for Test battle against Argentina - and tells his current number one No.10 Jack Crowley to exert more control after All Blacks defeat
Andy Farrell insists that Sam Prendergast is ready for the pressure cooker of Test rugby after naming him on the Ireland bench for Friday's clash with Argentina.
And the Ireland head coach has told Jack Crowley that he wants to see a big improvement in terms of his control of the game after a difficult night for the first choice No.10 against the All Blacks last week.
Out-half Prendergast, 20, and his Leinster colleague Thomas Clarkson are poised to enter the Test arena for the first time as Ireland chase a much-needed victory against dangerous opponents after the disappointing loss to New Zealand.
READ MORE: Two players set for Ireland debuts v Argentina as Andy Farrell makes squad changes
READ MORE: Felipe Contepomi explains Connacht star's omission from Argentina squad to face Ireland
Ciarán Frawley, who also under-performed off the bench as Crowley's replacement last time out, has been omitted from the squad - along with veterans Bundee Aki, Iain Henderson and Conor Murray.
Farrell has put Robbie Henshaw in for Aki as the one change to the starting team and he has shaken up the bench, with Prendergast, Clarkson, Craig Casey and Ryan Baird getting their chance.
“He’s ready," said Farrell of Prendergast, who played three games in a week for Emerging Ireland in October and previously starred for the Ireland under-20s. He has started two games for Leinster so far this season.
"For a young fellah that’s not had much game-time provincially, he’s obviously had more of late, but in an ironic way he’s probably been patient enough," added Farrell.
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“Because, in his own mind, he’d probably thought he’s been ready for quite some time because he’s that kind of kid, a confident kid. The experience that he’s got from being around the squad, he’s comfortable in his own skin.
“The reason for taking him on the Emerging tour was to make sure that he understood what it was to grab hold of his team and show that he is in charge. He showed that in abundance, we’ve seen the knock-on effect from that in the squad in the last couple of weeks.
“In his own mind he’s ready, he’s a young kid that’s in a pressurised type position obviously. He’s going to make his mistakes, but that’s the nature of anyone coming through.”
Crowley, 24, is still learning at the highest level but has had a difficult start to this season in a struggling Munster team and he looked unhappy when called ashore with 23 minutes remaining last week. “Jack, along with quite a few of our players, would have been hoping for better performance," said Farrell.
“Some of them are lucky enough to get another chance to do that, others are coming in and some of them played pretty well themselves, but there were too many people not right at their best last week and we’re hoping for everyone to improve, not just Jack.
"Obviously, the control of the game is something that Jack would be open and honest about wanting to step up a little bit this weekend but we've certainly seen that in training this week."
Farrell addressed the pressure that his players are under to turn around last week's under-par display with a big performance against Felipe Contepomi's Pumas - a team that has beaten South Africa, New Zealand and Australia this year.
"Pressure’s good," he said. "It’s what concentrates the mind, you see where your character’s at. We want to win all our games but the opposition is always going to have a say in that.
"I think this is perfect because we’ve got another top, top drawer opposition coming and we want to test ourselves because we feel like we let a few people down last week.
"It’s the best medicine for you actually, to get back on the horse. I’m sure there’s a bit of disappointment with a few of the lads that they don’t get to do that but they understand as well that it’s about the team, it’s about the squad.
"But that’s why I said it’s the perfect game because it’s very similar in as far as the quality of the opposition and where you need to be to draw out that performance from yourselves.
"In fact they’ve always been dangerous in recent years. You look at the history of World Cups, etc, they’ve always been very dangerous in one-off games, but their consistency of high performance in recent years is a credit to Felipe and his coaching staff.”
Farrell has seen a response in training but admitted that doesn't mean it will translate to the pitch on Friday night. "Yeah, but honestly we trained well last week," he said. "It's about converting. When you get punched on the nose, how you react is different to training and preparing well.
"We've trained well, we've been very honest and open in that regard which tends to focus the mind in training anyway. But it was good last week, so it's about dealing with the moments in front of our face as the 80 minutes progresses. That's what we need to get better at."
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