While the subject never really went away, the debate around the Ireland out-half position has been reignited once again on the back of Saturday’s game against Italy.

Sam Prendergast struggled in the fixture, making some poor errors off the tee and making little impact in attack. In contrast, the team seemed to be a much more cohesive unit once Jack Crowley made his way onto the pitch.

It will be interesting to see how that impact Andy Farrell’s team selection for the game against England, although the Ireland head coach is quickly growing frustrated with the narrative surrounding the two players.

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Andy Farrell Took Issue With Sam Prendergast Substitution Claim

Andy Farrell has largely favoured Sam Prendergast in the Ireland out-half battle over the last 18 months, although he has fully backed both players throughout that period.

Saturday’s game featured an interesting moment, with the introduction of Jack Crowley met with a smattering of cheers among the Aviva Stadium crowd. It is unclear whether that was a response to the Munster player coming on, or his Leinster counterpart being replaced.

This question was put to Andy Farrell after the game, where he was asked whether he felt the cheers were in response to Sam Prendergast’s substitution. He seemed to take exception to the question (h/t Irish Independent):

No, I don’t believe that.

No. You’re making that up – 100pc. I heard the cheer for Jack. That’s for Jack. Jack’s a good lad, you know?

He’s a good player. And Munster supporters and Irish supporters are allowed to cheer that, you know what I mean? We don’t need to make it out to be something it’s not.

I understand that [it’s a divisive debate]. No, it’s the keyboard warriors. It’s damaging, you know?

And the more we report on the keyboard warriors, we’re giving them . . . you know, everyone grows a leg, and then it’s ‘let’s do a bit more of it’.

Sam Prendergast is performing like a player who is short on confidence at the moment, meaning it would not be a surprise if he were to come out of the Ireland team for Saturday’s game against England.

The fixture in Twickenham looks more winnable than many would have predicted on the back of Scotland’s win over the English at Murrayfield, with Crowley’s cameo against Italy making him the favourite for the ’10’ shirt.

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