Best Youngsters in Men’s Irish Rugby Right Now
Who are the top up-and-coming Irish men’s rugby players?
It’s been a hectic summer for Irish Rugby, to put it mildly. All eyes would have been turned to Ireland’s triumphant victory in New Zealand, but another competition that went under the radar was the men’s Under 20s Summer Series in Italy, where the world’s best young talents went at it for a chance to show their coaches back home that they were ready to make the step up to senior level. Amidst a series of mixed results for the boys in green, who truly staked their claim for the main stage? Today we’ll be looking at some of the best of the Irish up-and-coming.
Sam Prendergast // Newbridge, Lansdowne, Leinster
Image: independent.ie
Kicking us off is the revelation at 10 known as Sam Prendergast. It seems like the most suitable place to start considering the long-standing question marks that lay over that position in Irish Rugby. Who is going to step into Johnny Sexton’s boots after the 2023 Rugby World Cup? Going into this series, Sam Prendergast was the last man anyone was expecting to stake a claim for the Under 20s starting spot which seemed to be between Grand-Slam winner Charlie Tector and Munster’s Tony Butler, who are both a year older than him. In fact, it was a wonder that Prendergast even made the 23 considering his young age of 19. To find out how he caught the eye of U20s Head Coach Richie Murphy, you’d have to go back to the 2020 Leinster Rugby Schools Senior Cup Semi Final, where reigning champions and heavy favourites St Michael’s took on Sam Prendergast Newbridge.
All the bets were on St Michael’s to win this game fairly comfortably, especially after a turgid affair in the quarter finals where Newbridge barely edged Kilkenny. Everyone watching almost took it for a fact that Newbridge had reached their peak in that game. Newbridge were 14-0 down after the half-hour mark, then up steps Sam Prendergast. In a performance akin to Sexton in the 2011 Heineken Cup final, Prendergast steered Newbridge to a narrow, nail biting comeback that saw them edge the game 22-25 with his orchestration of the final try - an exquisite pass thrown out wide, followed up by a nerves of steel touchline conversion. Prendergast was on his way to introduce himself as one of the best up and coming men’s Number 10s out there. Passing, intelligence, kicking ability and nerves, it seems he had it all.
And after a moment of sheer brilliance that saw him kick the game winning penalty against England, and gaining himself a year one contract at Leinster, we’re all excited for what’s coming in this lad's future.
DISCOVER
W RUGBY
With each ball sold, we donate another to grassroots rugby,
Won For Won™
Reuben Crothers // Ulster Rugby
“To be captain of the team and that composed and mature for a young man. He definitely has a big future.” lan Quinlan, former Irish Back Row speaking about Reuben Crothers.
We couldn’t have a list like this and not include the captain of that grand slam winning under 20s team. Most Irish fans will recognise this name immediately, but to those who don’t, let’s take a look at this extraordinary young man.
Crothers was the captain of Wallace High School rugby team when he was growing up, and Richie Murphy stated that Reuben would have gone on to become a leader for the Under 18s, and Under 19s team. However, having missed out on this important part of his development due to the Covid 19 pandemic, this didn’t seem to let that deter him from becoming the leader he is today.
To most, it would look like Crothers is a player who only broke into the team this year, but actually played a part in the Under 20s a year prior to this tournament.
”Last year there was a lot of quality players within the squad”, said Crothers. “I did learn a lot last year in Cardiff, like the style of play that U20 rugby is. It’s so fast and abrasive. I’ve got to take all my learnings from last year into this campaign.”
This right here is what separates Crothers from most other up and coming talented players. It takes a true captain to take his past failures, acknowledge and learn from them. Then to go on and put these new learnings into not only developing himself as a player, but his team.
Crothers is not only a born leader, but also a talented player. He played the most minutes out of any player in the 2022 six nations tournament, racking up over 400 minutes on the pitch. Every minute of every game. Other impressive stats included having the second most carries (behind teammate James Culhane), first in number of tackles for Ireland (fourth overall), second in turnovers won, and winning 18 lineouts.
Based on these statistics, Crothers seems like a full international player already; good in the lineout, incredible stamina and great ball carrying. It almost looks as if there’s no weakness to his game, and it’ll be exciting to see this tested at the highest level for Ulster in the future.
James Culhane // Leinster Rugby
James Culhane is arguably the most talented player to come out of the 2022 grand-slam winning group, if the title of official Six Nations player of the tournament is anything to go by. But how did he earn it?
It started in the first round of the championship against Wales at Musgrave Park, a night where Ireland staked their claim for the championship right away, and where Culhane stamped his name to be the player to look out for in the future. Winning the player of the match award in a scintillating 53-5 win against the Welsh and making 14 carries, the most of anyone on the night.
Of course, you can’t win player of the championship from one good performance alone, but Culhane was quick to back himself by winning his second player of the match in the third round of the tournament, dominating Italy with 16 carries, the most on the pitch once again.
The thing that catches the eye about this special talent is his consistency. Looking at every match he played in, Culhane put up the same outstanding numbers time after time. The same can be said in Ireland’s one-point victory against France and once more against England.
It’s certainly going to be an exciting time for Ireland to have both Culhane and Crothers waiting in the wings after 2023 and clear to see men’s rugby in Ireland have a very promising future.
Words // Liam Reynolds
