{"id":305943,"date":"2026-02-19T10:39:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T10:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/305943\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T10:39:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T10:39:10","slug":"sam-prendergast-set-to-miss-out-on-matchday-squad-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/305943\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Prendergast set to miss out on matchday squad \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ireland team to be announced at 11am<\/p>\n

Key reads:<\/p>\n

Join The Irish Times Rugby WhatsApp channel<\/a> to stay up to date with all the latest Six Nations news.<\/p>\n

Want a reminder of Ireland\u2019s tries against Italy? Of course you do.<\/p>\n

Up first was Jamie Osborne:<\/p>\n

Shortly after the break, Jack Conan crashed over to pull Ireland level:<\/p>\n

\"JackJack Conan scores Ireland’s second try against Italy. Photograph: Inpho <\/p>\n

And then Robert Baloucoune capped off a powerful debut with Ireland\u2019s third:<\/p>\n

More of that this weekend, please and thank you.<\/p>\n

Last weekend saw a slight change to the World Rugby rankings. Here\u2019s how they now stand:<\/p>\n

France\u2019s big win over Wales pushed them above England to third, South Africa still sitting pretty in first, followed by the All Blacks in second.<\/p>\n

Ireland are fifth, with Argentina, Fiji and Australia occupying sixth through eighth. Scotland and Italy round out the top 10, with Wales 11th.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re an hour out from Ireland\u2019s team announcement now, hang in there.<\/p>\n

In his latest column, Owen Doyle focused on a championship first after Scotland\u2019s Hollie Davidson became the first women to referee a men\u2019s Six Nations game, taking charge of Ireland v Italy.<\/p>\n

Just out here making history \ud83d\ude0e<\/p>\n

Referee Hollie Davidson made history on Saturday, where she took charge of the men\u2019s Six Nations clash between Ireland and Italy in Dublin. She became the first female official to referee for a men\u2019s game in our championship \ud83c\udfc6#GuinnessM6N<\/a>\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/4VJokMGDwP<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Guinness Men’s Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 16, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe previous week\u2019s results \u2013 a win for Italy and a defeat for Ireland \u2013 greatly increased the challenge for Hollie Davidson,\u201d he writes, \u201cBecoming the first woman to referee in the men\u2019s Six Nations is a truly brilliant achievement. It was a merit-based appointment and we will see more of her at this level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Craig Casey\u2019s yellow card may be thought a little harsh, Doyle notes, \u201cCasey needed to make some effort to position himself for a legal tackle\u201d, so no qualms there.<\/p>\n

\"RefereeReferee Hollie Davidson shows Ireland’s Craig Casey a yellow card during the game against Italy. Photograph: Ben Brady\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Though there were a few perplexing moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the intensity ratcheting up, we saw a few incorrect and questionable decisions,\u201d Doyle adds, citing a last-minute penalty against debutant Edwin Edogbo.<\/p>\n

\u201c(He) seemed to do as he was told, but was pinged anyway. If Davidson considered that he had slowed down Italian possession, then she probably felt a penalty was necessary. It was all very debatable and therefore, the wise course of action was to play on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Owen\u2019s column in full below:<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Hollie Davidson had a very good first half, but a few calls were perplexingOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

After their early Grand Slam hopes were dashed last weekend, will England\u2019s shaken confidence offer opportunity for Andy Farrell\u2019s side at Twickenham or will they go the way of the Scots and silence their doubters in front of a home crowd?<\/p>\n

Ireland are hoping for the latter, but they\u2019ll still have to put in the work. Nathan Johns looked at last Saturday\u2019s Calcutta Cup fixture and has some thoughts on what Ireland can learn from our Celtic cousins to test England.<\/p>\n

\"FinnFinn Russell led with his boot for Scotland against England last weekend. Photograph: Steve Welsh\/PA <\/p>\n

\u201cIf imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then many an indirect compliment could well be heading Scotland\u2019s way from Ireland\u2019s training centre in Abbotstown,\u201d Nathan writes, picking out the kicking battle, the breakdown and a balanced attack as the key areas Ireland should target.<\/p>\n

Read Nathan\u2019s analysis in full below:<\/p>\n

[\u00a0How Ireland can beat England and what they can learn from ScotlandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

England v Ireland is this weekend\u2019s opener (side note: Ireland were dealt the opening match in each of the five rounds), while Scotland travel to Cardiff to face Wales in Saturday\u2019s late game (kick-off 4.40pm), followed by France v Italy in Paris on Sunday (kick-off 3.10pm).<\/p>\n

England v Ireland and France v Italy will be televised live on RT\u00c92 and ITV1, while Virgin Media One and BBC One will have live coverage of Wales v Scotland.<\/p>\n

England head coach Steve Borthwick<\/a> got his selection out of the way nice and early, dropping his team on Tuesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is how they\u2019ll line out on Saturday:<\/p>\n

ENGLAND (v Ireland):\u00a0Freddie Steward, Tommy Freeman, Ollie \u200cLawrence, Fraser Dingwall, Henry Arundell; George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Ellis \u200bGenge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Heyes; Maro Itoje (capt), Ollie Chessum; Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Henry Pollock.<\/p>\n

Replacements:\u00a0Jamie George, Bevan Rodd, Trevor Davison, Alex Coles, Guy Pepper, Sam Underhill, Jack van Poortvliet, Marcus Smith.<\/p>\n

As is tradition on the eve of Ireland team announcements, Gerry Thornley has predicted who he thinks Andy Farrell will name in his matchday squad for Saturday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

Short version: Crowley in, Prendergast out. No, like, out out.<\/p>\n

Gerry believes Munster\u2019s Jack Crowley<\/a> is set to get his first start of this campaign at outhalf, with no room for Sam Prendergast<\/a> in the matchday 23 as Ciar\u00e1n Frawley will likely be named on the 6-2 bench as he can cover much of the backfield.<\/p>\n

\"JackJack Crowley during an Ireland training session on Tuesday. Photograph: Ben Brady\/Inpho <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s Gerry\u2019s predicted Ireland side to play England, and you can read his reasonings in full below:<\/p>\n

IRELAND (possible v England): Jamie Osborne; Robert Baloucoune, Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, James Lowe; Jack Crowley, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jeremy Loughman, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, James Ryan, Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).<\/p>\n

Replacements: R\u00f3nan Kelleher, Tom O\u2019Toole, Finlay Bealham, Jack Conan, (two from Edwin Edogbo, Cormac Izuchukwu and Nick Timoney), Craig Casey, Ciar\u00e1n Frawley.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Sam Prendergast out of Ireland side against England as Andy Farrell prefers Jack Crowley at 10Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the championship table looks after two rounds:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s always good to start with a quick refresher of last weekend, so here\u2019s the abridged version of round two.<\/p>\n

Ireland welcomed Italy to Dublin in the opening fixture of round two, with the two sides having taken contrasting results over the first round \u2013 Italy beating Scotland in Rome after Ireland were humbled by France in Paris.<\/p>\n

So, a buoyant Azzurri came to the Aviva and really made their hosts earn it, a weighty sigh of relief emanating from the Ireland coaching box at full-time.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Ireland dig deep to see off considerable Italy challenge in Six NationsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\"ScotlandScotland captain Sione Tuipulotu lifts the Calcutta Cup after their win over England. Photograph: Stu Forster\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

At Murrayfield, Scotland did exactly what Scotland tend to do, bouncing back from an opening loss away to Italy to shock high-flying England. Finn Russell pulled the strings, the Scots reclaimed the Calcutta Cup, and Gregor Townsend lives to fight another day.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Storming Scotland stun England to seal Calcutta Cup gloryOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\"Wales'Wales’ Josh Adams and France’s Theo Attissogbe contest a high ball. Photograph: Billy Stickland\/Inpho <\/p>\n

For poor Wales, the silver lining was that things didn\u2019t get much worse. After a drubbing by England in round one, their 54-12 defeat against France in Cardiff on Sunday felt like it could have gone a lot worse, especially since Antoine Dupont, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Thomas Ramos et al were all in flying form. As we know, those fantastic French are hard to stomach when it\u2019s your tryline their trotting over.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Imperious France enjoy eight-try romp over sorry Wales in CardiffOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Good morning! We\u2019re back bright and early as Andy Farrell<\/a> is due to name his for Ireland<\/a>\u2019s third round Six Nations<\/a> game against England<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After last weekend\u2019s win over Italy<\/a> at the Aviva Stadium, Ireland are on their travels this time out, heading to Twickenham where they have another 2.10pm kick-off on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The team announcement is due to land at 11am.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, we\u2019ll be going through all of the latest Six Nations news, comment and analysis, and looking ahead to this weekend\u2019s fixtures.<\/p>\n

\"Ireland'sIreland’s Tadhg Furlong is tackled by Italy’s Manuel Zuliani during last weekend’s Six Nations game in Dublin. Photograph: Ben Brady\/Inpho