Nov 18,2024
Of the many things Andy Farrell will have learned about his side in Friday's 22-19 win against Argentina, one thing that will have pleased the Ireland head coach will be the impact his two debutants had off the bench.
On an evening where Cian Healy played his 133rd game of Test rugby, Thomas Clarkson and Sam Prendergast dipped their toes into the international game, the 46th and 47th players to make their debuts since Farrell took over in 2020.
Clarkson actually came off the bench twice during the game, initially replacing Josh van der Flier for around five minutes while Finlay Bealham was in the sin-bin during the first half, before he returned to the game after 53 minutes, logging more than half an hour of game time in his first appearance.
The Leinster prop looked up to the standard, and could well be in line for a second cap this Saturday against Fiji if Tadhg Furlong’s hamstring injury doesn’t clear. Clarkson held his own at scrum time, contributing in a big way to the one scrum penalty his side won, while he was excellent on defence, bringing a lot of line speed, which led to an important turnover just inside Ireland’s half.
Prendergast had less time on the pitch, replacing Jack Crowley for the final 18 minutes of the game, and while Ireland didn't score while he was on the field, he showed enough composure and flashes of talent for Farrell to be pleased with what he saw.
"I thought he was excellent," the Ireland coach said of Prendergast.
"I thought he was really composed, playing your first cap in that type of position, that type of situation, I thought he was really composed. He played at a nice tempo at the line and started to make things happen. That just shows what type of character he's got.
"It was a tough one for Sam to manage his way through but again, you give them that type of exposure and see what they're about. Both of them did really well.
"I thought it was a big old task for Tom Clarkson coming on, especially when it's a game of collision-winning and they're going to test you through the forwards. They're a good scrummaging pack and I thought he did really well."
Farrell has generally disagreed with the idea that teams need to work in four-year cycles, each of which lead to the next World Cup, instead preferring to tweak things bit by bit, slowly changing the team over time.
And he says Friday’s game taught him a lot about the two debutants, even in short appearances off the bench.
"It's huge. You've seen the characters throughout training, and you know they're ready for that type of occasion and pressured occasion.
"I said to them in there in the changing room that they came in well prepared because of the form they've shown this season and it's not about one cap. It's what you do with that one cap and how hungry you are to kick on now to gain on that experience.
"You’re always trying to see who’s coming through because we need to push each other along, we need to find the depth that we all crave."
For the second week in a row, Ireland went a long period without scoring, registering their final points of the night in the 32nd minute against Argentina, while Van der Flier’s try just after half time was their last score of the game against the All Blacks a week ago.
While Farrell (below) insists it’s too small a sample size to read into, and it’s "certainly not a trend", the Ireland coach is looking for his team to kick on even further in the final games of this window, after which he will temporarily hand the keys over to Simon Easterby for the duration of his Lions sabbatical.
And he’s determined to make sure he’s passing the role on in a good place.
"That's always part of my thinking. Honestly, I try to make sure that there's no distractions and there hasn't been. It's full steam ahead for me. This is a great window for us to improve as a group going forward.
"Two more wins obviously but two more better performances.
"Being more clinical in how we finish things off and to continually get better at most things. We were a little bit patchy in parts, so be more consistent across the board.
"There's quite a few of them that were disappointed with last week's performance, and I think as a whole we started the game, our first half was pretty good given the opposition, so the individuals were obviously up for that," he added.
