IRELAND assistant coach Andrew Goodman said that the outhalf battle has been ten out of ten.
Interim head coach Simon Easterby will name his team to face England in Saturday’s Six Nations opener on Thursday with a big decision to be made who to play at 10.
Leinster’s Sam Prendergast is the front runner having impressed against Australia though clubmate Ciaran Frawley and Munster’s Jack Crowley are also pushing for inclusion.
But Goodman, a former outhalf, insisted that what has impressed him the most is how the trio have worked together as well as competed against each other.
Goodman said: “The three of them are all great lads, first and foremost, and they all work well together.
“They’re competing hard on the field but the pleasing thing is you go back to the hotel and they’re sitting around the computers together going through clips.
“And they’re driving the team well. It’s great to see and I’m sure they’ll all have great Test careers ahead.”
Goodman knows Prendergast well having also worked with him at Leinster last year before he moved on to the Ireland set-up last July.
He added: “It’s been a great couple of months for Sam, just the game experience he’s managed to gather up both with Ireland, first with Emerging Ireland, then Ireland, then some big Champions Cup games away to La Rochelle, home to Bath.
“So it’s been a great period for him to get real game experience.
“I know he valued the time at Leinster when he was training alongside the senior squad as an academy member but to get out there and feel it for himself, there’s been huge growth in his game.”
But the Ireland assistant also acknowledged that the team need a big step up on their showing last November when performances were iffy in a loss to New Zealand, and wins over Argentina, Fiji, and Australia.
He added: “We were aware that some of the timing was off and some of the skill execution that we pride ourselves on was off.
“We’ve sharpened and focused around our skill set.
“We’re making sure we get lots of good decisions on the ball and lots of touches on the ball so when we come into the pressure moments, we can execute those.”
Meanwhile, Goodman confirmed that there are no new injuries for Ireland ahead of the England game with Leinster’s front rower Tadhg Furlong the only absentee.
Connacht’s Finlay Bealham is set to start in his place with Dan Sheehan expected to get the nod at hooker ahead of Ronan Kelleher after his return from an ACL injury on Saturday.
The other big calls are in the second row, where Tadhg Beirne could get the nod alongside Joe McCarthy, while Mack Hansen could get the nod on the right wing.
