A defeat in Eden Park rounds out a season with a bit of a whimper for Ireland. There was a lot of hope that Andy Farrell’s side could be in a shot of making history again, but to no avail, as Dave Rennie had the All Blacks purring.
It’s been a weird Nations Championship for Ireland. Two wins from three with 10 points on the board is good going heading into the November portion of the competition. But that one defeat shows Ireland are a way off competing with the best.
There were several key storylines to come out of it, however, so here are the winners and losers of Ireland’s summer series.
Sam Prendergast of Ireland. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Winner- Sam Prendergast
After what was a horrid 12 months post Ireland’s loss to France in Dublin in the 2025 Six Nations, the last 12 weeks have seen Prendergast play the best rugby of his career by a long shot.
He quietly shone as Leinster added another URC title, then he pounced on his opportunity in green, putting in a pair of extremely mature performances against the Wallabies and All Blacks. And, more importantly, he firmly silenced the trolls with some stellar defensive displays, making tackles we hadn’t seen him make before.
While this doesn’t put an end to the everlasting Jack-Sam debate, it’s good to see the 23-year-old bounce back and find his confidence again after a rough 12 months.
Ireland’s Sam, left, and Cian Prendergast celebrate after the 2026 Nations Championship Round One match between Australia and Ireland at Allianz Stadium in Sydney, Australia. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Loser- Cian Prendergast
And while one thrives, the older Prendergast comes out of this summer tour once again not fully taking hold of the opportunity he had to nail down a starting berth.
Given the 6 jersey for the Wallabies test, hopes were high that Prendergast could bring his form and his leadership from the second half of the season with Connacht into the other green jersey.
But while he scored his first Ireland try, only getting 51 minutes and never being seen again, with Jack Conan and Tadhg Beirne moving into the blindside role may show signs that he doesn’t have Farrell’s full trust yet.
Jansen is pursued by Japan’s Tiennan Costley. Pic: Ben Brady/INPHO
Winner- Sean Jansen
One of the three Connacht players, and four overall, to make their Ireland debuts this summer, none made as much of an impression as Sean Jansen.
The Dunedin-born brute came out of the blocks firing as he made his test debut against Japan, being by far Ireland’s best player on the pitch on an emotional day for the man with Belfast and Kildare-born grandparents.
Then he was thrown in against the country of his birth, and while the game was likely already out of sight, Jansen’s speed and power were the punch off the bench Ireland desperately need at the moment, with the side looking slow and weak at times.
Stuart McCloskey of Ireland breaks away from Carter Gordon. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Loser- All the centres
Hear me out on this one. A lot of the issues in the Irish backline can be solved with a new, more athletic crop of Irish centres.
In Baloucoune, O’Brien (a fit Tommy or Jimmy) and Keenan, Ireland have an athletic enough back three to compete with the top teams. However, with whatever combination of Ringrose, Henshaw, Aki and McCloskey, it feels like the backline is just too slow before they get the ball into those playmakers’ hands.
When watching the likes of Jordie Barrett, Len Ikitau or Jesse Kriel, the crop of centres, which have been around for nearly a decade now, that Ireland have look more like a reunion tour than an in-prime group, not at the athletic level to compete with the best.
With Big Stu the hot hand, Aki firmly becoming number 23 and Henshaw not trusted in the biggest games anymore, it looks like Ringrose would be the likely man that has to go. One of Jude Postelthwaite, Hugh Gavin or Jamie Osborne needs to make the step up and compete for that 13 jersey and reinvigorate this midfield.
Jimmy O’Brien evades the tackle of Warner Dearns of Japan. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Winner- Jimmy O’Brien
A man who was quietly going about his business before the tour, this past week the talk about Jimmy O’Brien has sprung into life after a string of top-notch displays.
After a couple of seasons of up-and-down form and injuries, O’Brien held down a regular spot with Leinster come the end of the season and then when Baloucoune went down in the warm-up before Ireland’s opener against Australia, O’Brien was called in and did magnificent.
Great under the high ball, a playmaker when he drifts in-field, O’Brien is in that Mack Hansen mould that Farrell values so highly. With Hansen and Tommy O’Brien to return, Ireland have a pretty exciting backfield they can call upon heading into the World Cup.
Forwards coach Paul O’Connell with players, from left, Billy Bohan, Sam Illo, Darragh Murray and Cormac Izuchukwu. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Loser- Paul O’Connell
Once again, Ireland’s lineout was extremely sloppy to begin an International window. Against Australia and Japan, Ireland lost 8 lineouts in total, a lot of them in very good attacking position off of winning defensive penalties.
And while Ireland’s defence was commendable throughout the summer, they had to do an awful lot more of it than intended because they couldn’t get the lineout right. It also left Ireland’s attack looking rough as the backline were trying to play with an unclean ball and couldn’t get their intended attack rolling.
The issues cleared up in Eden Park, but it’s an all too familiar trend now that at the start of a test window, Ireland’s lineout is so slow to get working. Simply not good enough from O’Connell and the lineout leaders.