ANDY FARRELL has insisted that Johnny Sexton is not casting a long shadow over the Ireland out-halves
Sexton hung up his boots after the 2023 Rugby World Cup but has returned to the camp as a mentor.
Jack Crowley has been below his best against the All Blacks and Argentina with Ciaran Frawley making a series of errors off the bench in the defeat to New Zealand.
Sam Prendergast – who fared better when brought on last week – starts tomorrow with Frawley to get a chance to redeem himself as a replacement.
And Farrell maintained that Sexton’s part-time presence is a positive rather than a negative.
He said: “I’ve heard that said by a few. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. Honestly, these guys love sharing their thoughts and even more importantly Johnny sharing his thoughts on them.
“All that he’s trying to do, and they 100 per cent know this, is that he’s there to help them and they appreciate that.”
Asked to clarify his role, he said: “It’s defined at the minute. Obviously place-kicking is one. He’s taken hold of the high-ball stuff and the mentoring of players that you would expect him to.
“Johnny wouldn’t want to come in all screaming, ‘look at me, I’m here’. He’s come in softly and he’s certainly building through it now and we see a lot of improvement in the areas that he’s coaching.
“It’s just for this campaign. Obviously we’ll keep on talking but all the signs are good.”
Farrell’s selection is most notable for its newcomers with uncapped duo, hooker Gus McCarthy and back row Cormac Izuchukwu, named in the starting XV.
Prendergast is making his first start whilst Jamie Osborne who, on his fifth cap, will be starting his first home game. Prop Tom Clarkson will make his second Test appearance off the bench, benefitting from Tadhg Furlong’s continued absence.
On Izuchukwu, Farrell said: “I suppose Izzy has been in and around the squad now for a while actually.
“The first Emerging Ireland Tour is when we first came across his ability, his athleticism, his point of difference, and since then there’s been an improvement and maturity of his game because he was young in as far as the 15-a-side game when the first Emerging tour was on.
“The difference between the first tour and the second tour was chalk and cheese. His ability, point of difference, his potential with that maturity, he deserves a shot to show what he’s got.”
McCarthy, 21, made his Leinster bow only in April with his first provincial start only two months ago.
And Farrell said: “Gus, what a rise in such a short space of time. Obviously coming from the 20s and being successful there, he’s been a captain for a long time now and you can see why because you can see his maturity in how he goes about the game.
“Rugby is a strange thing. You think there’s a pecking order and all of a sudden a couple of players get an injury then a kid gets an opportunity and he shows up really well when we take him on the training week with us as a development player.
“He showed up unbelievably well and he’s forced our arm to keep him in the squad, first and foremost. And he deserves a shot to see what he can do as well.”
Prendergast is another who took the chance presented to him by this season’s Emerging Ireland tour.
Farrell said: “I’m confident from what we’ve seen. He played in all of those games and the aim of that was for him to grab hold of that team and make sure that he treated it like his own.
“He did that in spades and this week we’ve seen the benefit of that. We need to see it transfer obviously.
“His character is composed, confident but yet not over-confident. He’s assertive in what he wants and he has a nice way about how he goes about his business.”
UTILITY ACE
The coach is reluctant to tie Osborne – who starts at full-back, but has also played centre – to either position.
Farrell said: I’ll hold judgement because he’s good at all the positions we know he can play. He’s just a good rugby player who’s getting better because he’s trusting himself more at this type of level.
“He picks things up very quickly. He’s maturing as far as his body is concerned. I mean he’s a force isn’t he? He’s hard to stop, he’s some frame on him and he’s going to keep getting better with the more exposure that we give him.”
There is also a recall for Jacob Stockdale who has played in just two of Ireland’s last 37 Tests – both of them World Cup warm-up games.
The Ulster winger is trying to relaunch an international career which began with 11 tries in his first nine Tests and saw him named Player of the Championship for the 2018 Six Nations.
Farrell said: “The expression of bursting on to the scene doesn’t do it justice, does it?
“I suppose he’s had time to reflect on the time he’s not been able to pull the green kersey on and there’s no time like the present to turn that around.
“He’s in good nick, in good spirits. There’s something that’s turned the corner. He’s obviously had a word with himself.
“He’s in good form, he’s making things happen, which was always his point of difference.
“He’s fit, you can tell he’s looking after himself, you can tell he’s minding himself.
“He’s speaking up more, taking more ownership around the group, there’s a maturity about him that’s a little bit different and all those things tell me that he’s hungry and ready to go.
Ireland team: Osborne (Leinster), Hansen (Connacht), Henshaw (Leinster), Aki (Connacht), Stockdale (Ulster), Prendergast (Leinster), Casey (Munster); Porter (Leinster), G McCarthy (Leinster), Bealham (Connacht), J McCarthy (Leinster), Beirne (Munster), Izuchukwu (Ulster), van der Flier (Leinster), Doris (Leinster).
Replacements: Kelleher (Leinster), O’Toole (Ulster), Clarkson (Leinster), Henderson (Ulster), Prendergast (Connacht), Murray (Munster), Frawley (Leinster), McCloskey (Ulster).
