Some players ‘lucky enough’ to face Pumas – Farrell
Autumn Nations Series: Ireland v Argentina
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Friday, 15 November Kick-off: 20:10 GMT
Coverage: Commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds and BBC Radio Foyle; live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app
Head coach Andy Farrell has welcomed the pressure last week’s defeat by the All Blacks has put on Ireland and says some players are “lucky enough” to be given an immediate shot at redemption against Argentina.
Ireland’s autumn campaign began in dispiriting fashion with a sub-par performance allowing New Zealand to win 23-13 in Dublin.
Having slipped to third in the world rankings after their 19-game home unbeaten run was ended, Farrell views the Pumas’ visit to Aviva Stadium as the “perfect” test for his players.
“It [pressure]’s what concentrates the mind, it’s when you see where your character’s at,” he said.
“We want to win all of our games but the opposition is always going to have a say in that. I think this is perfect because we have another top-drawer opponent coming and we want to test ourselves because we feel we let a few people down last week.”
Farrell has opted against making wholesale changes following the All Blacks loss with Robbie Henshaw’s inclusion at inside centre ahead of Bundee Aki – who does not make the squad – the only alteration to the starting line-up.
Jack Crowley has been retained at fly-half despite Ireland’s attack failing to fire against New Zealand.
“Jack, along with quite a few of our players, would have been hoping for a better performance,” added Farrell.
“Some of them are lucky enough to get another chance to do that, others are coming in and some of them obviously played pretty well themselves, but there were too many people not right at their best and we’re hoping for everyone to improve, not just Jack.
“The control of the game is something Jack would be open and honest about wanting to step up a little bit this week but we’ve seen this in training.”
‘Confident kid’ – Farrell on new fly-half Prendergast
While Crowley has been given another chance after being withdrawn just before the hour mark against New Zealand, the uncapped Sam Prendergast is set to make his debut having replaced his Leinster team-mate Ciaran Frawley on the bench.
Prendergast was one of the stars of Ireland’s Under-20s Six Nations Grand Slam win in 2023 and also impressed during this year’s Emerging Ireland series in South Africa, starting three games at fly-half in the space of the week.
“He’s ready,” Farrell said of 21-year-old Prendergast.
“For a young fella who has not had much game time provincially, he’s obviously had more of late, but in an ironic way he’s been patient enough because in his own mind he’s thought he’s been ready for quite some time. He’s that type of kid, he’s confident.
“The experience he’s had around the squad, he’s a lot more comfortable in his own skin. The reason for taking him on the Emerging [Ireland] tour was to make sure he understood what it was to grab hold of his team and show that he’s in charge and he showed that in abundance.
“We’ve seen the knock-on effect of that in the squad the past couple of weeks.”
