Ireland's out-half questions yet to be resolved

Ireland's out-half depth chart is one of the biggest talking points following a stuttering and unconvincing Autumn Nations Series.

Heading into this international window, I firmly believed that Ciarán Frawley was the player that would challenge Jack Crowley’s dominance in the number 10 jersey.

It wasn’t to be for Frawley, as an error-strewn performance off the bench against New Zealand seemed to slightly derail his position in Andy Farrell’s pecking order.

Next came the eagerly anticipated appearance of Sam Prendergast and, with the backing of his coach, he has changed the out-half landscape.

It could be argued that Farrell always had the Leinster tyro lined up to start the Fiji game to build depth in the position.

However, Frawley has yet to be afforded that opportunity with injuries possibly blocking the chance at various stages, which saw Crowley lock down his position.

Then came a poor, and uncharacteristically sloppy, performance from Frawley and it feels as though Farrell’s ruthlessness gave Prendergast the chance to shine.

Farrell liked what he saw so much that he doubled down and gave Prendergast the last chance to stake a claim at the Irish Six Nations out-half jersey.

We can't shout about Ireland not giving guys chances and then keep shouting when the management does that exact thing.

Starting Prendergast against the Wallabies felt like a black mark against Crowley, but that is an assumed narrative.

It still felt like a seismic shift in out-half relations. Maybe it was also a shift in how Farrell approaches the development of his squad, or maybe it’s because Farrell won’t be up close and personal with these players until after the Lions tour, and he wanted to make sure he got the process of creating more competition at