Farrell: Argentina clash offers ‘redemption’ chance for some Ireland players

Ireland is scheduled to face Argentina in the Autumn Nations Series at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Friday, 15 November, with kick-off set for 20:10 GMT. The match will feature commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Sounds, and BBC Radio Foyle, along with live text commentary available on the BBC Sport website and app. This fixture follows Ireland’s recent home defeat to the All Blacks, which was only the second such loss under head coach Andy Farrell. Head coach Andy Farrell has indicated that he welcomes the pressure exerted on Ireland by last week’s defeat against the All Blacks. He stated that some players are “lucky enough” to be granted an immediate opportunity for redemption when they play Argentina. Ireland’s autumn campaign commenced with a disappointing performance, as New Zealand secured a 23-13 victory in Dublin. After this result, which ended their 19-game home unbeaten run and saw them drop to third in the world rankings, Farrell views the Pumas’ visit to Aviva Stadium as a “perfect” test for his squad. Farrell expanded on his perspective, saying, “It [pressure]’s what concentrates the mind, it’s when you see where your character’s at.” He continued, “We want to win all of our games but the opposition is always going to have a say in that. I think this is perfect because we have another top-drawer opponent coming and we want to test ourselves because we feel we let a few people down last week.” Following the loss to the All Blacks, Farrell has opted against making extensive changes to the team. The only alteration to the starting line-up is the inclusion of Robbie Henshaw at inside centre, replacing Bundee Aki, who is not part of the squad. Jack Crowley will remain at fly-half, despite Ireland’s attack struggling to perform effectively against New Zealand. Farrell commented, “Jack, along with quite a few of our players, would have been hoping for a better performance.” He added, “Some of them are lucky enough to get another chance to do that, others are coming in and some of them obviously played pretty well themselves, but there were too many people not right at their best and we’re hoping for everyone to improve, not just Jack. The control of the game is something Jack would be open and honest about wanting to step up a little bit this week but we’ve seen this in training.” While Crowley has been given another chance after being withdrawn just before the hour mark against New Zealand, uncapped player Sam Prendergast is set to make his Ireland debut from the bench against Argentina. Prendergast will replace his Leinster team-mate Ciaran Frawley on the bench. Prendergast was a standout player in Ireland’s Under-20s Six Nations Grand Slam victory in 2023 and also impressed during this year’s Emerging Ireland series in South Africa, where he started three games at fly-half within a week. Of the 21-year-old Prendergast, Farrell affirmed, “He’s ready.” Farrell elaborated, “For a young fella who has not had much game time provincially, he’s obviously had more of late, but in an ironic way he’s been patient enough because in his own mind he’s thought he’s been ready for quite some time. He’s that type of kid, he’s confident.” He further noted, “The experience he’s had around the squad, he’s a lot more comfortable in his own skin. The reason for taking him on the Emerging [Ireland] tour was to make sure he understood what it was to grab hold of his team and show that he’s in charge and he showed that in abundance. We’ve seen the knock-on effect of that in the squad the past couple of weeks.”