There is fierce competition right now for a place in the Ireland match-day squad
After Six Nations wins over England and Scotland, we have taken a look at who we think who has enhanced their reputations and who has fallen behind for Ireland.
Winners
Sam Prendergast
The obvious candidate in the ‘winners’ category.
Leinster’s out-half has been backed to the hilt by Andy Farrell and Simon Easterby, and after a shaky performance with the boot against England, their faith paid dividends after his player-of-the-match showing against Scotland.
As pointed out by Murray Kinsella of the42, in the opening round of the Six Nations he had the fastest average passing speed with 33.3km/h.
It is this ability to zip these passes out accurately, consistently, and more often than not finding the right option, all while delaying the delivery as the defence make their decisions.
And once he gets his spiral kick going, it adds yet another point of difference over his rivals for the jersey.
He admitted that he was not up to scratch in week one, and his comments following the Scotland win show a mature head on the 22-year-old.
Prendergast said: “There were a little bit less nerves, because last week was the unknown. I’d never experienced [a big Six Nations game] before, so I didn’t know what it was going to be like. It did give a bit more insight into what this week was going to be like. It was a bit easier, for that.
“As a team, and personally, we took a lot of learnings out of [England]. Last week, I did not play as well as I would have liked. It was good to be able to put some of those learnings into place. But I had a few learnings out there today that I also want to put right.”
Jack Conan
Given that starts in big Leinster and Ireland games are a rarity for the No 8/blindside, he tends not to get the fanfare of others despite his obvious attributes. It seems out of mind at times that he started all three Lions tests against South Africa in 2021.
He has been Ireland’s best performing sub over the first two rounds of this year’s Championship, leading calls for him to start against Wales next week.
However, he has come on early in the second half in both games and his dynamism is better suited in a more open game, against tired legs.
Having not played for Ireland since last year’s Six Nations, he had become somewhat of a forgotten man, but he has reminded everyone that he is still one of the main cogs in the Ireland 23.
Garry Ringrose
Despite not being one of Ireland’s top five performers over the first two rounds, the Leinster man has been the best out of the ‘big three’ centres so far.
The 13 looks to have taken over from Bundee Aki as the man who must start in the middle, leaving the bulldozers Bundee and Robbie Henshaw to fight it out for the inside centre slot.
The value of his passing game was on show against England, with a lovely long ball giving James Lowe the space to set up Jamison Gibson-Park for Ireland’s opening score.
Against Scotland Henshaw got the start, but his distribution was a hindrance to the side at times, and a poor defensive read nearly let the Scots in for a try, while successful defensive shooting from Ringrose has become a trademark of his season so far.
Losers
Jack Crowley
This is admittedly harsh given that he has been good off the bench in both games, and out shone his Leinster counterpart against England.
However, ground has certainly been lost in the out-half battle, and his Lions chances will have taken a hit.
Having said that, impressing at Murrayfield from fullback could work out positively in the long run.
Ryan Baird
The rangy blindside/lock showed glimpses of the athleticism that sets him apart from Caelan Doris, Conan, and Peter O’Mahony, but these big moments were two few in 70 odd minutes over the past two weeks.
With both Cormac Izuchukwu and Tom Ahern both offering similar attributes, the gap has been closed despite no game time for the latter two.
Mack Hansen
Injury must shoulder most of the blame here, as the right-winger was much improved against England from the Autumn Nations Series.
However, Calvin Nash put in assured performance against Scotland and will feel that he deserves another shot against Wales.
While not doing a whole lot wrong, he has moved out of Lions conversations.
