Former Ireland teammates Andrew Trimble and Shane Horgan are at odds over who Andy Farrell should start at No.10 against France in the Six Nations on February 5.
The Irish enter the tournament with concerns about their recent progress. The French, the All Blacks and the Springboks all got the better of them during 2025 and there has been plenty of speculation about what the head coach might do with their first match of 2026 now just over two weeks away.
Farrell will name his Ireland squad this Wednesday before taking them to Quinta do Lago in Portugal next week to prepare for their match in Paris. That opener will be followed by fixtures at home to Italy on February 14 and away to England on February 21.
When selecting an fly-half for the recent four-match Autumn Nations Series, Jack Crowley was named to start against New Zealand and Japan with Sam Prendergast providing the bench back-up, but this selection was switched for the games versus Australia and South Africa with Prendergast wearing No.10 and Crowley chosen as a replacement.
Two-way battle has extended to three
This two-way battle for the jersey has now extended to three, though, following the winter re-emergence of Harry Byrne at Leinster. He won the last of his four Test caps when appearing off the bench behind Crowley in the March 2024 title-clinching win over Scotland.
Byrne’s struggle for recognition last season with Leinster resulted in him spending the second part of 2024/25 on loan at Bristol Bears in PREM Rugby. However, he has risen to prominence since then back home in Dublin and has started in four of his seven Leinster appearances since Ireland’s November series.
That included coming off the bench to kick the winning penalty in the Investec Champions Cup win over La Rochelle and then starting the follow-up victory away to Bayonne last Saturday.
This exposure has vaulted him into the Ireland Six Nations conversation and Trimble is now giving him every chance of starting for Ireland against France, a prospect that for former Test teammate Horgan didn’t agree with as he feels Crowley should be the Irish No.10 at the Stade de France.
The lively debate between the pair unfolded on the Second Captain’s podcast, beginning with Trimble plumping for Byrne as his choice at fly-half. “Harry Byrne is my 10, to be honest,” he said.
“I feel like Jack Crowley has that X-factor, has that ability to create something, that individualism, he can beat defenders, he can offload, he can create something, a spark out of nothing. He is very, very strong in that space. I don’t think Harry Byrne gets there in that category.
“Similarly, Prendergast has that ability to pick out options at the line. It’s so, so subtle, just so clever to spot what’s coming and then find that space. I don’t think Harry Byrne gets there either, but he doesn’t have glaring holes that both of them have.
“He is a more complete player, and we have seen over the last couple of weeks his ability to be assured, confident and he has steered his team home the last couple of weeks. It’s not that complimentary my description there, but it feels like he doesn’t have those holes and the overall package of what he offers, overall it’s better than what the other two offer.”
Reacting to what Trimble had to say, Horgan replied: “That’s a good assessment, but in some ways slightly depressing. I want the top, top, I want the ceiling to be really high and with Harry Byrne, I don’t think our ceiling is as high as with either of the other two but our basement with the other two is lower than with him potentially and it depends where you want to make the call here.
“In some ways, Prendergast is a perfect international 10 and a perfect Six Nations 10 but for his defence – and by the way, he missed two tackles against La Rochelle for two tries. That’s what happened.
“But I do think the way he can manage a team around the field, his ability, his pass, all those kinds of things, it is made for international rugby – but I just don’t know if you can see past the defensive deficiencies and maybe you can’t which is going to really, really sad for him and depressing for the rest of us.
“And so, if we can’t pick him, which I don’t think we really can, and let’s say (Ciaran) Frawley seems to be out of the picture altogether and he is injured as well, is it Harry Byrne or Jack Crowley?
“Again, I would prefer to go for the guy who gives you the higher ceiling and push him on the other elements of the game and push him to have a greater focus on that, be more supportive around plotting this team around and his kicking game and I would lead with him.”
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Second Captains rugby correspondent Simon Hick then interjected, suggesting that Horgan has a thought process similar to Ireland boss Farrell. “You know what, Shane, I think you think like Andy Farrell. Gambler is the wrong word, but he’d like that feeling of someone who could do something really special.
“He knows Ireland aren’t quite good enough relative to France at the moment to sort of go seven out of 10 at everything. He kind of knows maybe we need to go, maybe we can get away with Prendergast missing tackles, or Crowley missing kicks or Crowley not seeing the space because they can do some other things 10 out of 10.
“Whereas Byrne is more like seven to eight out of 10 in all areas. Most teams would be delighted with that, and he is a very good player, but there is no one thing that you go, he is lights out.”
Trimble now rejoined the conversation, speaking about how Farrell is having to look at rolling the dice in other areas of the team and that might feed into his eventual selection at 10. “The only thing with that is there is less certainty around this Ireland side at the minute.
“It’s not like a lot of individuals are really putting their hand up. A lot of injuries, a lot of difficulties, we are going to see a lot more new faces than we probably would see, so he is rolling the dice with a lot of those, he is rolling the dice with the props and that could be a good thing. We don’t know what we don’t know.
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“(Jack) Boyle turned up at the weekend (for Leinster), I thought he was very good, very physical, won a lot of collisions, did okay at the scrum against a big unit. We don’t know yet; they haven’t been tested. Similar to Harry Byrne, who hasn’t been tested at that level really.
“I kind of feel like if you are going to roll the dice with one or two, there are a lot of question marks and Andy Farrell is going, I don’t know about that but I might get something brilliant. I don’t know.
“Who knows, it could fall for him. Then maybe Mr Consistent, Mr Reliable is the one. Maybe that is not Harry Byrne, but on paper that is Harry Byrne. But because he has less experience, maybe he [Farrell] is rolling the dice.”