Quilter Nations Series: Ireland v South Africa
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 22 November Kick-off: 17:40 GMT
Coverage: Listen on BBC Sounds, BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Radio Ulster; live text updates on BBC Sport website and app
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Ireland head coach Andy Farrell hit back at «loaded questions» as he defended fly-half Sam Prendergast before Saturday’s Test against world champions South Africa.
Prendergast started last week’s 46-19 win over Australia after Jack Crowley wore the number 10 jersey against New Zealand and Japan.
While Leinster’s Prendergast shone in attack against the Wallabies, the 22-year-old’s weakness in the tackle was exposed when Len Ikitau barged past him to score Australia’s first try.
Asked if he wanted to see more physicality from Prendergast, Farrell said: «I understand the question and it’s a question that obviously keeps popping up, but I think Sam’s ability as a fly-half far outweighs a work-on within his game.
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«I thought he was tremendous last week, his skillset has been fantastic for all to see and I think everyone needs to look through a little bit of a work-on because everyone’s got work-ons and will continue to have work-ons throughout.
«That’s up to us as coaches and the rest of the players to keep on working on them.»
Pressed if he had spoken to Prendergast about his technique and body position, Farrell responded: «I understand your question again, but they’re loaded questions, do you know what I mean?
«Because then it’s obvious we have to talk about that, but your question could be asked about any single player throughout.
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«Of course, we constantly talk to individuals about all aspects of their play, so to think that we’re just focusing on one aspect of one player is not right.
«For example, I spoke to our two leaders yesterday about certain aspects of their game. I’m talking about Caelan Doris and Dan Sheehan, world-class players, and they agree with their work-ons, so it’s constant throughout for every single member of every single squad in world rugby.»
Ireland will be ‘tested to the full’ against Springboks
Prendergast won his 12th cap against Australia last weekend [Getty Images]
Having started the November Tests with a disappointing defeat by the All Blacks and an underwhelming win over Japan, Ireland produced an improved performance to sweep past the Wallabies last week.
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South Africa have not beaten Ireland in Dublin since 2012 but come into Saturday’s game in excellent form, with the 32-17 victory over Six Nations champions France in Paris an especially eye-catching result given Lood de Jager’s first-half red card.
And Farrell sees Saturday’s contest with the back-to-back World Cup winners as a robust examination for his squad in their final game before the 2026 Six Nations.
«We’ve been talking a lot about resilience within our game over the 18 months, and there’s been some learnings from that along the way, and that was pretty good last week,» he said.
«I suppose that’ll get tested to the full this weekend. So I don’t think we’re just learning about individuals. We’re learning about our game and how we’re going to progress with that over the next couple of years.»
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Farrell added that matching the Springboks’ immense physicality will be key for his side on Saturday.
«It has to be a given, because if you don’t show up with that frame of mind you’re on the backward step straight away,» he added.
«It is an absolute given in any single Test match, that’s for sure. But certainly it’s highlighted even more so against the best team in the world at this moment in time.
«What is part of their DNA has continued to be part of their DNA throughout and it’s only getting better – their collision work and their carrying in the contact areas.
«So if you don’t turn up in that regard, you’re in for a tough afternoon.»
