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Extra.ie
5 hours ago
- General
- Extra.ie
Next chapter of Prendergast vs Crowley set to be highlight of looming Ireland tour
Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley will renew their battle for the Ireland No10 jersey this summer, with both playmakers included in a youthful Ireland squad which will tour Georgia and Portugal next month. Both players were overlooked by Andy Farrell for the looming British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, but the Leinster and Munster's out-halves will be keen to impress interim head coach Paul O'Connell on this development tour. After a breakout autumn campaign, Prendergast moved ahead of his Munster rival during the Six Nations, with the 22-year-old starting against England, Scotland, Wales and France before Crowley, who had made four cameos from the bench, was handed a starting sport for the final-round game against Italy in Rome. Jack Crowley and Sam Prendergast. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile The Corkman was subsequently linked with a big-money move to Leicester Tigers before the 25-year-old signed a two-year contract extension in April, which will keep him on the payroll at Thomond Park until 2027. Crowley has since enjoyed an upturn in form in recent months while Prendergast's displays in a stuttering Leinster team have come in for greater scrutiny of late. The next chapter in this rivalry will kick off in the summer as the pair of young No10s jostle for position in the international pecking order. Jack Crowley. Pic: INPHO/Dan Sheridan Ciaran Frawley will also look to jumpstart his Test career again after a disappointing season with Leinster and Ireland. Yesterday, O'Connell named an experimental 32-player squad which will take in games against Georgia and Portugal. The former Munster captain and current Ireland forwards coach will run the show with Farrell on sabbatical to oversee the Lions series against the Wallabies. Sam Prendergast. Pic: INPHO/Dan Sheridan With Simon Easterby, Andrew Goodman and John Fogarty all away on Lions duty, O'Connell will have a new-look backroom team at his disposal with the Munster coaching duo of Mike Prendergast (attack), Denis Leamy (defence) as well as Connacht assistant coach Cullie Tucker (scrum) on board. Ireland will have 15 frontliners away with the Lions while Cian Healy, Peter O'Mahony and Conor Murray have retired from international action. Robbie Henshaw and Caelan Doris are out of contention due to injury along with experienced Ulster forwards Rob Herring and Iain Henderson. Ciaran Frawley will also look to jumpstart his Test career again after a disappointing season with Leinster and Ireland. Pic: INPHO/Dan Sheridan So, O'Connell has looked to the future, naming 11 uncapped players in his squad, with Tom Ahern, Michael Milne, Shayne Bolton, Nathan Doak, Ben Murphy, Tommy O'Brien Alex Kendellen, Darragh Murray, Paddy McCarthy, Stephen Smyth and Hugh Gavin all making the cut. Additionally, the promising Ulster trio James McNabney, Jude Postlethwaite and Zac Ward have been included as training panellists. Munster scrum-half Craig Casey will be captain. Pic: INPHO/Tom Maher Munster scrum-half Craig Casey will captain a touring party, but there was no place for his provincial teammate Tom Farrell, one of the former players in the country at the moment. Ireland will take on Georgia in Tbilisi on Saturday, July 5 before the squad then fly to Lisbon where they will face Portugal the following Saturday, July 12. IRELAND SQUAD FOR SUMMER TOUR Forwards: Tom Ahern*, Ryan Baird, Finlay Bealham, Jack Boyle, Thomas Clarkson, Gavin Coombes, Max Deegan, Cormac Izuchukwu, Alex Kendellen*, Gus McCarthy, Paddy McCarthy*, Michael Milne*, Darragh Murray*, Tom O'Toole, Cian Prendergast, Stephen Smyth*, Tom Stewart, Nick Timoney. Backs: Shayne Bolton*, Craig Casey (capt), Jack Crowley, Nathan Doak*, Ciaran Frawley, Hugh Gavin*, Stuart McCloskey, Ben Murphy*, Calvin Nash, Jimmy O'Brien, Tommy O'Brien*, Jamie Osborne, Sam Prendergast, Jacob Stockdale. Training panellists: James McNabney*, Jude Postlethwaite*, Zac Ward *. *denotes uncapped player.
Irish Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Leinster's Leo Cullen on Sam Prendergast's performance against Scarlets
Leinster boss Leo Cullen was quick to jump to Sam Prendergast's defence following his side's URC quarter-final win over Scarlets. Ireland's Six Nations' out-half has been attracting lots of attention recently and was the subject of stinging criticism about his defence from former Ireland star Shane Horgan in the wake of the Champions Cup semi-final defeat to such as former England out-half Stuart Barnes, praised the Leinster star's ability to attack, to be exciting, and that there was a decade or more of brilliance coming down the the same time and most likely down to that performance against Northampton, Prendergast missed out on Lions squad selection and while Leinster won on Saturday, he was once again down for some flak - and it wasn't about his with his side 15-7 up and three metres from the Scarlets line on the verge of half-time, he fluffed a pass directing it backwards and behind his own defence and from where Scarlets raced down the field and scored. 15-7 became a tricky 15-14.'Sam is a young player and he had some unbelievable moments in the game today and that's not to hype somebody up to the point where we're unrealistic in our expectations," said Cullen."There were probably a couple of penalties there, a number of Scarlet's players offside, no clear release and one of the breakdowns, and then they go the length of the field and score, which is potentially a 14-point swing at half-time.'So you have a young player, just gone 22 recently, and we need to support these guys coming through the system in Leinster, and there's patience and being realistic about what young men can do.'And for us it's just we want to try and nurture talents and most of the guys come through the system here, a few guys add as well, like Jordie Barrett, a big influence, having the likes of RG Snyman coming off the bench. Rabah Slimani, the experience he has as well.'But for the most part it's guys that come through, Academy players that have progressed through the senior team."Still, Leinster had negotiated the hurdle, there was no disastrous Cullen: 'It's great to be still playing knockout rugby at this stage of the season."We've talked about this, it's week by week now. Glasgow and ourselves have had a good look at each other over the last number of weeks, so we know each other pretty well."We will just build a plan now for next week and recover well. We're into June rugby, the season goes on.'The big thing for us is support and genuine excitement. It shouldn't be a drudge, it should be like 'This is amazing, we are in a semi-final, we are getting ready, we are playing the current reigning champions."What we know is that they're kicking the ball quite a bit, even at the end, pinning us back in our end, and I think Glasgow will be doing something similar next week as well."Moreover Glasgow are facing a similar challenge to the one they encountered last season."Last year they won a home quarter-final and came away to Munster to win an away semi-final before they went to South Africa to win an away final.'If you're putting yourself in Glasgow's shoes, what are they like? They're relishing the opportunity to come here but we need to be relishing the opportunity of playing in front of our home fans.'I's great to be in a semi-final again but we take nothing for granted.'We have already lost a semi-final. Everyone was, supporters, staff, trying to look too far ahead so it was a real harsh lesson for us but learning from that and we are excited now.'We know it's going to be hard. We're up against the URC champions who came to Ireland last year to win their semi-final. Hopefully it'll be a great contest."Josh van der Flier is unlikely to make it back for next weekend, there is more likely going to be a precautionary rest not least as Scott Penny did so well when he came Conan and RG Snyman will be ice-packed and stitched up and ready to go, Tadhg Furlong is back training fully while Garry Ringrose may make the picture. Robbie Henshaw is not expected to play again this season but will be moving straight to the Lions in the aftermath. "It looked like it was Josh's hammy," said Cullen of van der Flier's injury, "that's the report, he felt a bit of tightness again, he was struggling to run it off so whether that's back-driven or neuro I don't know."Obviously Scott came in there so the six-two bench worked for us there as Scott was a natural no7 coming off the bench. Scott was good, brought good energy."You are always nervous during the warm up, 'hope one of these backs doesn't go down and cause some complications...".There was also a nod to the attendance, 12,789, which would seem quite low for a URC quarter-final albeit this was a Bank Holiday weekend."Hopefully we have support to come out again in the semi-final and I know we ask a lot of supporters over the course of the season but let's make it a special occasion, a semi-final, let's be better than we were in the last semi-final.'That's our job as coaches, making sure we have a good plan there this week but be genuinely excited by the challenge of it."
The 42
4 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
'It shouldn't be a drudge' - Cullen urges Leinster supporters to turn out for semi-final
RELIEF SEEMED TO be the overriding emotion for Leo Cullen after he watched his Leinster team overcome Scarlets 33-21 in their URC quarter-final today. It was far from a convincing performance at the Aviva Stadium, with the province looking nervy as their attack struggled for cohesion and their defence was breached three times by a spirited Scarlets side. After starting strong, moving into a 12-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes, Leinster's play became increasingly scrappy. They led 15-14 at half-time before a somewhat more comfortable second 40 saw them pull clear to win by 12 points. Cullen was clearly pleased to come out on the right side of the result but could not hide his frustrations around elements of the occasion. While he made a point of thanking the Leinster support for turning out to get behind the team, a low attendance of less than 13,000 seemed to be something of a sore point, as he called for supporters to come out in numbers for next Saturday's semi-final meeting with Glasgow Warriors. 'Overall we are pleased to get through, we will just build a plan now for next week and recover well. We're into June rugby, the season goes on,' Cullen said. The big thing for us is support and genuine excitement. It shouldn't be a drudge, it should be like 'This is amazing, we are in a semi-final, we are getting ready, we are playing the current reigning champions.' 'We know it's going to be hard. Last year they won a home quarter-final and came away to Munster to win an away semi-final before they went to South Africa to win an away final. If you're putting yourself in Glasgow's shoes, what are they like? They're relishing the opportunity to come here, but we need to be relishing the opportunity of playing in front of our home fans. This time last year we were scrambling around trying to book flights to South Africa. 'Like it's great to be in a semifinal again, but we take nothing for granted,' he continued, referencing his side's Champions Cup semi-final defeat to Northampton Saints. Advertisement 'Again, going back to the semi-final we've already lost, like, people were looking ahead. Everyone's looking ahead. Everyone is, supporters, staff were trying to look too far ahead. So it was a real harsh lesson for us, but (it's about) making sure we learn from that. So be excited now.' Sam Prendergast had a mixed game. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO Cullen also stressed the need to support young players like Sam Prendergast, who has been under huge scrutiny all season as he stepped up to be Leinster and Ireland's first-choice out-half. Prendergast had a mixed game against Scarlets – delivering a sharp pass in the lead-up to James Lowe's opening try and one superb chip kick assist for Jamie Osborne, but adding errors both in possession and defence. His spilled pass as Leinster pushed for their third try at the end of the first half saw the Scarlets go end-to-end to score, leaving it a one-point game at the interval. Cullen urged supporters to continue to back the young out-half, before turning his attention back to getting a big crowd in for the Glasgow game. Sam is a young player and listen, he had some unbelievable moments in the game today. It's not to hype somebody up to the point where we're unrealistic in our expectations. So you have a young player, just gone 22 recently, and we need to support these guys. 'The guys come through the system in Leinster, and there's patience and being realistic about what young men can do. And for us it's just, we want to try and nurture talents, and most of the guys come through the system here, a few guys add as well, like Jordie [Barrett], a big influence, having the likes of RG [Snyman] coming off the bench. Rabah [Slimani], the experience he has as well. 'But for the most part it's guys that come through, Academy players that have progressed through the senior team and again, hopefully we have support to come out again in the semi-final. 'And I know we ask a lot of supporters over the course of the season, but let's make it a special occasion, a semi-final, let's be better than we were in the last semi-final. That's our job. Coaches, making sure we have a good plan there this week, but be genuinely excited by the challenge of it. 'We're up against the URC champions who came to Ireland last year to win their semi-final. Obviously we were in Pretoria watching it after we lost our game. So, yeah, dust ourselves off now and let's go again.'
The 42
18-05-2025
- Sport
- The 42
Leinster close out URC regular season with win over Glasgow
Leinster 13 Glasgow Warriors 5 Daire Walsh reports from the Aviva Stadium IT WAS A largely forgettable affair played in front of 17,654 spectators, but Leinster ultimately closed out their United Rugby Championship regular season campaign with a victory over Glasgow Warriors at the Aviva Stadium this evening. Whereas they amassed eight tries on their way to securing a 52-0 triumph at the expense of Glasgow in a European Champions Cup quarter-final at the same venue on 11 April, on this occasion a single effort by Jimmy O'Brien was complemented by a combined eight points from the boots of Sam Prendergast and Ciaran Frawley to ensure Leinster got over the line in an underwhelming spectacle. A much-discussed penultimate round defeat to Northampton Saints in Europe's top-tier a fortnight ago in the Aviva means the URC is the only remaining shot at silverware for the eastern province in the 2024/25 season, but Leo Cullen's men were already assured of finishing top of the regular season table coming into this game. Guaranteed of a top-four spot, reigning URC champions Glasgow were hoping to avoid dropping below third in the competition's standings and their fly-half Adam Hastings was unfortunate to see his 10th minute penalty rebounding off the left-hand post before drifting away to safety. Having initially struggled to establish an attacking platform, Leinster slowly gained a foothold inside the Glasgow half either side of the first-quarter mark. They appeared to have broken the deadlock when Jimmy O'Brien gathered and subsequently crossed over in the left-corner via Sam Prendergast's audacious crossfield delivery from an attacking penalty – as everyone was expecting the Ireland international to boot the ball to the right-corner – but this score was ultimately ruled out due to the kick being taken from the wrong spot. Yet this was only a temporary respite for Glasgow as a 'tap and go' penalty by scrum-half Fintan Gunne on 27 minutes set the wheels in motion for Prendergast to put through his fellow Kildare native O'Brien for another finish on the left-flank – only this time it counted. A 27th try from the latter on his 99th provincial appearance was supplemented by Prendergast's touchline conversion, but after the same player dropped a long-distance penalty short of the target, Leinster had to be content with a 7-0 lead at the end of a largely uneventful opening period. Advertisement Although the hosts suffered a blow when Robbie Henshaw was replaced in the 22nd minute – Jamie Osborne took his place beside Jordie Barrett in the Leinster midfield – Glasgow withdrew Scottish centre Sione Tuipulotu at the midway point of his first competitive outing since January. A couple of excellent breaks from the in-form Tommy O'Brien injected some much-needed life into the Leinster attack on the resumption, albeit handling errors were making it difficult for them to create sustained momentum. Sam Prendergast dropped the ball as he attempted to touch down in the left-corner on 48 minutes and blindside flanker Ryan Baird knocked on when he was in an advanced position on the far flank moments later. As the third-quarter wore on, both Cullen and his Glasgow counterpart Franco Smith opted to throw a plethora of replacements into the mix. Despite Leinster increasing their advantage with a routine Prendergast penalty, it was arguably the visitors who enjoyed the greater immediate impact from their bench. After full-back Kyle Rowe chipping the ball deep into the Leinster half, winger Sebastian Cancelliere kicked the ball along the ground and the onrushing George Horne – with virtually his first involvement after entering the fray instead of scrum-half Ben Afshar – was ideally placed to dot down beyond the whitewash. Even though Hastings dragged his bonus kick wide of the target, this did leave the tie delicately poised moving into the final-quarter. However, Glasgow never looked like cutting any further into their deficit and while Leinster surprisingly couldn't add a second try, a late penalty from Frawley put the seal on their 16th league win of the season. Thanks to results across the weekend, Leinster will now face Scarlets – one of only two teams to defeat them in the current edition of the competition – in a URC quarter-final at the Aviva on Saturday, 31 May. For Glasgow, a home encounter against 2021/22 champions DHL Stormers awaits them in the last-eight. Scorers for Leinster Tries – Jimmy O'Brien Conversions – Sam Prendergast [1/1] Penalties – Sam Prendergast [1/2], Ciaran Frawley [1/1] Scorers for Glasgow Warriors: Tries – George Horne Conversions – Adam Hastings [0/1] Penalties – Adam Hastings [0/1] LEINSTER: Hugo Keenan; Tommy O'Brien, Robbie Henshaw (Jamie Osborne '22), Jordie Barrett, Jimmy O'Brien; Sam Prendergast (Ciaran Frawley '61), Fintan Gunne (Luke McGrath '51); Andrew Porter (Jack Boyle '51), Dan Sheehan (Ronan Kelleher '51), Thomas Clarkson; RG Snyman, James Ryan (Diarmuid Mangan '80); Ryan Baird, Scott Penny, Jack Conan (Max Deegan '61). GLASGOW WARRIORS: Kyle Rowe; Sebastian Cancelliere, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (Tom Jordan half-time), Kyle Steyn; Adam Hastings, Ben Afshar (George Horne '55); Jamie Bhatti (Nathan McBeth '55), Seb Stephen (Gregor Hiddleston '64), Fin Richardson (Murphy Walker '55); Jare Oguntibeju (Scott Cummings '71), Alex Samuel (JP Du Preez '43); Macenzzie Duncan (Stafford McDowall '55), Rory Darge, Euan Ferrie. Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU).
Times
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Times
The Aussies relish taking on cocky Englishmen… good luck, Henry Pollock
It was easy to identify the most popular Lions selections for the audience at Thursday's squad announcement. The loudest cheers were clearly those for Henry Pollock, the Northampton Saints back-row forward, and for Marcus Smith, the Harlequins fly half. Full approval was signified. At least in some quarters. Frankly, I was astonished by both selections, especially since they were made by so unflappable and solid a character as Andy Farrell. I will admit that Pollock's timing was immaculate. In the last match before selection, the semi-final between Leinster and Northampton, he picked up a loose ball down the left wing and outstripped the one remaining defender with blissful ease to score. That one defender was Sam Prendergast, much favoured for the Lions tour, and
