Jack Boyle wants to follow in Sam Prendergast's footsteps after tasting life at Test level
Leinster's young loosehead Jack Boyle made Ireland's Autumn Series training panel and says the ball is in his court after chat with Andy Farrell, with Prendergast and McCarthy's Test debuts the inspiration to push on
Watching Sam Prendergast and Gus McCarthy seize their Ireland chance has made Jack Boyle hungry for his own one.
Boyle played alongside both of his young Leinster colleagues in 2022 when they won the under-20 Grand Slam with Ireland.
Two and a half years on, Prendergast and McCarthy earned their first Test caps in the Autumn Series. Like McCarthy, Boyle had been selected for the five-strong training group named alongside the full squad for the four internationals.
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Andy Farrell had words for the 22-year-old prop before he left Ireland's training camp ahead of the games. "Yeah, a bit of a chat when I was leaving and I have a clear idea of what I have to do to get back in," said Boyle.
"The ball's in my court. They had a look at me and it's up to me to push on and hopefully get back into camp. There's a path there but it's up to me to keep playing well, to put one foot in front of the other game by game and see how I go.
“Gus, and Sam Prendergast as well, they’re around a similar age to me. They both expressed themselves pretty well, they are two guys that really have self-belief and self-confidence. They don’t only slot into the team, they add to the team - they express themselves as soon as they’re on the pitch.
"Look, I was delighted to get into the environment. You hear lads speaking about it so much, always ranting and raving about it, how much they love the environment and it's the people in there, coaches, players, backroom staff, that make it special.
"So getting a taster is something that makes me hungry to try to get back there. It’s up to me now. I just have to continue playing well here and hopefully things happen for me but it’s very much game focused."
Boyle feels encouraged because he was selected for the training panel despite missing the Emerging Ireland tour through injury. But he managed to get back for the 33-12 victory for Leinster over Connacht at the Dexcom Stadium in October and, on the back of his performance, Farrell added him to his training panel.
Reflecting on it now, Boyle describes it as a "whirlwind" start to the season and it continued with his first ever Champions Cup start against Bristol two Sundays ago, though it was a "frustrating" scrum performance.
"We didn’t deal with it very well in the first half and it kind of just led into other areas of the game, it was just sloppy, to be honest with you," the Old Wesley and St Michael's man confided.
"But the lads fixed it up for last week and we’re confident going into this week that we can stamp our authority and our process into the game and get on top set-piece wise."
Boyle will start against Connacht at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday and, most likely, will come up against Finlay Bealham. It is another opportunity to impress the Ireland management, with Simon Easterby taking over the hot seat during Farrell's time with the British and Irish Lions.
"Finlay's an incredible player," he said. "He's a great man as well, I got on very well with him (in camp). But look, it's up to us to get our process right and to stamp our authority on the game and we're looking to have a go at set-piece time as well.
"So we're not just there to give it a dead duck, we're properly ready to give it a go."
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