Three selection headaches for Andy Farrell

Following on from a debut off the bench against Argentina, Prendergast’s first start for the fly-half did not begin well and he can consider himself fortunate to have escaped with just a yellow card on eight minutes when he turned his shoulder high into an on-rushing Kitione Salawa. Yet having been reprieved by the bunker review, Prendergast grew in confidence and composure to pull Ireland’s strings, an injury to number 15 Jamie Osborne forcing fly-half replacement Ciaran Frawley to full-back and allowing the rookie to play a full 80 at 10.

Frawley atoned for his nightmare stint off the bench against the All Blacks to rediscover his swagger a week after Jack Crowley rebounded well from a poor team performance in defeat to the All Blacks on matchday one.

Crowley had started every game at 10 for Ireland following Johnny Sexton’s retirement in October 2023 until the weekend and now he has a fight on his hands to regain the jersey against Australia.

CENTRE 

Irish rugby’s midfield riches continue to pose all the right problems for the head coach with Robbie Henshaw’s excellent performances at both inside and outside centre over the past two weeks suggesting the selection of a 12-13 axis to face Australia this Saturday will be far from straightforward.

Garry Ringrose was given the night off against the Fijians as Bundee Aki returned at number 12 and Henshaw moved to 13. Aki, dropped following the opening Autumn Nations Series defeat to New Zealand, made his presence felt, not least with a second-half try, and both he and Henshaw made Fiji’s much-vaunted combination of Josua Tuisova and Waisea Nayacalevu look distinctly ordinary during a bruising Aviva Stadium battle.

Stuart McCloskey, deployed for the first time this month off the bench on Saturday, and the now-injured Jamie Osborne, who impressed as the starting full-back, have also held their own as midfield replacements. Whomever misses out this weekend can consider themselves extremely unlucky.

HOOKER 

Ireland started the month with an injury crisis at hooker, with first-choice Dan Sheehan ruled out until the new year with an ACL injury, Ronan Kelleher a doubt following ankle surgery and Ulster pair Rob Herring and Tom Stewart also sidelined and without any game time this season.

Kelleher proved his fitness and started against both New Zealand and Argentina, backed up by an undercooked Herring, before uncapped Leinster academy hooker Gus McCarthy was elevated from a training panelist brief to a Test starter against Fiji. And what a stellar debut it was, his try and three try assists the stuff of dreams after a shaky start at the lineout when he was pinged for crooked throws.

Farrell thought at least one of them was harsh but his recovery was impressive the 21-year-old former U20 Grand Slam-winning captain excelling in the loose with explosive pace and deft hands. Kelleher, a late try scorer whose introduction on 73 minutes saw McCarthy finish the game as a flanker, may well start against the Wallabies but the rookie has staked a claim to a second cap at the earliest opportunity.