By BBC (Sports) | Created at 2024-11-23 00:10:03 | Updated at 2024-11-23 04:04:10
4 hours ago
Autumn Nations Series: Ireland v Fiji
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 23 November Kick-off: 15:10 GMT
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds, live text and commentary on the BBC Sport website and app
The battle for Johnny Sexton's number 10 jersey, a fascinating sub-plot of Ireland's year, will take another interesting turn on Saturday when 21-year-old Sam Prendergast starts a Test match for the first time.
The story has gone a little something like this.
Jack Crowley emerged as Sexton's understudy at last year's World Cup and, in the wake of the great man's retirement, the Munster man played every minute of the Six Nations and helped Andy Farrell's side retain their title.
Ireland were next seen in South Africa for two July Tests with the double world champions. Crowley started both of them, but it was Ciaran Frawley who set tongues wagging after his buzzer-beating drop-goal heroics in Durban snatched a dramatic victory from the jaws of defeat to tie the series.
Despite early-season turbulence at Munster, which included the departure of head coach Graham Rowntree, Crowley was retained at 10 for the All Blacks' visit to Dublin.
Neither he nor Frawley - who replaced him with 20 minutes left - shone in that defeat, and while Crowley enjoyed a much more satisfying night against Argentina, Prendergast has been given the chance to impress head coach Andy Farrell against Fiji.
Farrell has made seven changes for the Fiji game. Cormac Izuchukwu and Gus McCarthy will make their debuts but most of the hubbub has predictably centred on Prendergast.
A training panellist during this year's Six Nations, Prendergast was given heightened exposure to an elite-level Test rugby environment when he was named in Farrell's squad for the South Africa series.
And while Jamie Osborne was thrown straight into the mix against the world champions, Prendergast had to bide his time before making his international bow as a second-half replacement for Crowley against Argentina.
"It was pretty surreal," said Prendergast, who has older brother Cian for company in the Ireland squad.
"The whole week really, having the family coming into the Shelbourne and Cian in the camp as well, it was a special thing.
"Getting to play in front of a full Aviva, singing the national anthem for the first time...it was a nervous week, but quite surreal."
Prendergast clearly channelled those nerves effectively: Farrell described his 20-minute cameo against the Pumas as "excellent".
He now has the chance to give Farrell a selection headache for the Australia game on 30 November.
Life has moved fast for Prendergast over the past couple of years.
Born in Kildare, he spent 18 months of his childhood in Syria, where his father Mark - a lieutenant-colonel the Irish Defence Forces - was based at the time.
"I have great memories of it," Prendergast recalled of his time in Damascus.
"I met Diarmuid Mangan, who I played under-20s with, over there, his family were over there at the same time so we spent a year over there and we were living together when we left school.
"It was a bit of a coincidence but it was quite special to share special days with him."
He dabbled in Gaelic football and soccer at school but eventually chose rugby. He represented Newbridge and Lansdowne before joining the Leinster academy in 2022, by which stage Cian had left to join Connacht.
Having consumed a fly-half diet of Sexton, Danny Cipriani, Quade Cooper and Damian McKenzie, Prendergast started to make a name for himself. In 2022, he kicked 15 points - including a late penalty from distance - to help Ireland beat England in a pulsating Under-20s encounter in Italy.
In 2023, he starred for Ireland's Under-20s during their Six Nations Grand Slam triumph in 2023 and their run to the World Rugby U20 Championship final.
His quick feet and offload for a James Nicholson try in the Six Nations win over Wales even caught the attention of All Blacks legend Sonny Bill Williams, who said "remember that name my friends".
His Leinster debut, against the Lions in April 2023, offered an early glimpse of his mettle, nailing six of his seven kicks to help secure the province's first United Rugby Championship win in South Africa.
Last season was one of development. He started just four times for Leinster but clearly left enough of an impression for Farrell and his coaches to bring him to South Africa.
Earlier this year, he was tasked with starting three Emerging Ireland games in the space of a week in South Africa. The aplomb with which he handled such a heavy workload was key to Farrell's decision to throw him into the mix against Fiji.
Prendergast, who admits to having been intimidated when meeting some of Ireland's established Test players for the first time, is clearly still finding his feet.
At 6ft 4ins, he is taller and more rangy than Crowley. He reads defences well and has a lovely passing portfolio. For the Test arena, of course, he will require much more.
"I suppose it is a work in progress," he said when asked about being a vocal presence in camp.
"It comes naturally to me sometimes, maybe when we're on the training field and in matches.
"I think there's a lot of good older voices so it's maybe worked up to be a bit bigger than it is. There's a lot of other people who speak as well so it's not just the 10 who leads the week."
He is yet to feature for Leinster in the Champions Cup. To some, his ascension to the Ireland line-up will seem premature.
When it is put to him that some pundits see him as "too slight" for the rigours of top-level international rugby, he dismisses such a tag as "a bit harsh".
"I just try to learn off my team-mates, I don't see it as pressure," he said.
"I'd say I put more pressure on myself than what the media or team-mates do. I just want to keep getting better."
