The Sam Prendergast v Jack Crowley debate rumbled on on Saturday, after both men impressed in a record win for Ireland over Australia.

As we have come to expect, so much of the buildup to this game revolved around the ongoing battle for the Irish #10 jersey.

After spending most of the Six Nations as the bench fly-half, Crowley appeared to have done enough to claim the starting spot, after a superb start to the season with Munster.

Crowley was indeed named in the XV for both of Ireland’s first two games of the Autumn Internationals.

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Despite Crowley generally continuing his consistent performance level across the All Blacks and Japan games, he would be surprisingly dropped in favour of Prendergast for Saturday’s clash with the Wallabies.

Prendergast’s form has been iffy at both club and international level this season, but his showing on Saturday evening was nothing short of superb.

The Leinster youngster put in a massive claim to be reinstated as first-choice #10 with a brave performance that saw him gain over 40 metres and dictate a far more fluid Irish attacking performance than we have seen in quite some time.

It was a travesty that his brilliant cross-field kick to Tommy O’Brien just before the hour was not rewarded with a try due to a prior knock-on.

The highlight of the night was his drop goal on 50 minutes that extended Ireland’s advantage to eight points.

Crowley, too, has been impressive this November, and he would put in a brilliantly assured performance after coming off the bench for Prendergast in the second half.

The Munster fly-half nailed three kicks from three and was confident with ball in hand, showing that he was not fazed by the hugely impressive performance of his counterpart.

However, this was a night when Sam Prendergast put in arguably his most impressive display yet in an Ireland shirt.

Despite such a strong showing, he displayed admirable humility in his post-match interview with TNT Sports.

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Ireland v Australia: Sam Prendergast humble after massive performance

Ireland legends Brian O’Driscoll and Tommy Bowe were part of the TNT panel interviewing Sam Prendergast post-match on Saturday night, as he reveled in a brilliant display against Australia.

“I feel like we got our attack flowing a bit better than we probably have the last two weeks,” Prendergast said of Ireland’s improved showing against the Wallabies.

“Even back to the Six Nations, it’s probably the best we’ve been off the ball in terms of ability to pick on defenders. That’s quite a positive to come out of the game.”

Prendergast would admit that Ireland’s discipline was a source of frustration, but that the team were overall satisfied with their improvements in attack compared to the Japan and New Zealand games.

When the focus turned to Prendergast himself, however, the 22-year-old batted away some high praise from Brian O’Driscoll with a self-critical analysis of his performance.

BOD: “What I’ve admired in your game is that shape at the line, waiting for defenders to make decisions and then you still have that innate ability to be able to throw the passes. Is that something that you practise or just part of your personality and your skillset?”

Prendergast: “I suppose it’s probably a lot to do with confidence. The more confidence I play with, the better, that comes off. I’m still learning a lot, there’s times when I’m giving the wrong pass or it’s on for me to run and I’m not taking it. You all understand that there’s so many moving parts, it’s about nailing the big opportunities you get. There will probably be 10 or 11 to look back on from tonight where I probably missed an opportunity to do it.”

An impressively humble outlook after what was surely a brilliantly satisfying evening for Sam Prendergast against the Wallabies.

Just as Ireland’s fly-half debate seemed to have been settled for now, the rout against Australia has reignited it once again.

There is a big call ahead for Andy Farrell when he picks his team to face world champions South Africa next Saturday.

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