SAM PRENDERGAST THE LATEST TO FLY THE SUNCROFT FLAG
By Daire Walsh
To say that the past few years have been a whirlwind for Suncroft brothers Sam and Cian Prendergast would be something of an understatement.
Back in 2020, Sam registered 30 points over the course of three games to help Newbridge College reach the Leinster Schools Senior Cup final for the first time in 24 years. Simultaneously, his elder sibling Cian played his part as the Ireland U20s secured a Triple Crown to leave them very much on course for a second consecutive Six Nations Grand Slam heading into the month of March.
Unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic meant that they both missed out on ultimate glory in both competitions, but it did little to halt their overall progress on the rugby field. After spending some time in the Leinster sub-academy, Cian joined Connacht in the summer of 2020 and went on to become a regular starter under the stewardship of the recently-departed Andy Friend.
He also made his senior international debut against Fiji in November 2022, a few months after Sam’s Ireland U20s bow in a one-off Six Nations summer series. It was during this year’s U20s Six Nations that the younger Prendergast really announced himself, however, as he amassed 69 points in five games to ensure Richie Murphy’s troops replicated the Grand Slam-winning exploits of 2022.
Like Cian, Sam also seems destined for a long career in the professional game with two senior provincial caps already under his belt at Leinster.
Despite now being in different cities, the brothers remain close as they find themselves at an exciting point in their respective developments. Whereas Sam is in South Africa as the Ireland U20s get ready to kick-off their World Championship campaign against England tomorrow, Cian is part of Andy Farrell’s training squad for the forthcoming World Cup in France.
“We probably became our closest during lockdown when we were both at home. He had been living in Dublin for the couple of years previous to that, and then since being in lockdown, he has been on an upward trajectory,” Sam remarked on a video call from Cape Town yesterday.
“It’s been cool getting to see him develop as a player and become more professional. Getting to go to his games as well and seeing him succeed has been great. It’s a busy time for the family at the moment. He’s at home.
“I’d say he probably would have liked to have come over here to catch a couple of games, but he’s got more important things to be doing. Training for the World Cup and hopefully getting into the squad for France. It’s been great to see him succeed over the last couple of years.
“If we haven’t seen each other for a while, we would normally have a lot to talk about because he lives in Galway. Rugby would probably get involved a little bit, but our Mam would try to keep us away from it the odd time!”
While it is a relatively small village in the grand scheme of things, the Prendergasts aren’t the only natives of Suncroft to have made a big splash in rugby. Across a professional career that spanned 13 years (2007-2020), Fergus McFadden picked up no fewer than 12 major honours with Leinster, Ireland and the Ireland Wolfhounds.
This includes three European Rugby Champions Cups, two Six Nations titles, six Celtic League crowns and a Churchill Cup. In addition to their family homes being in close proximity, there is a connection between the Prendergasts and the McFaddens through the Army – Sam and Cian both having lived in Syria for 18 months as children when their father was stationed there.
Although he has had only the briefest of encounters with McFadden, Sam acknowledged it was inspiring to see someone from his home village making such an impact at the elite level of the sport.
“I actually haven’t chatted to him. I think he was at Leinster training at one stage and I said ‘Hi’ to him, but that was about it. I know he lives probably 200 metres away from my house at home.
“He was off in Clongowes and then up living in Dublin, so I haven’t actually chatted to him too much. If you’re from a small village like I am, it’s kind of cool seeing someone succeed on such a high level like he did.”
Due to the aforementioned pandemic, this is the first World Rugby U20 Championship to be played since 2019. Back then, Ireland achieved an eighth-place finish in Argentina with future senior internationals Craig Casey, Ryan Baird and Ben Healy (albeit a Scottish one) all part of the playing group.
Three years before that, Jacob Stockdale, Hugo Keenan, Andrew Porter, James Ryan and Eadestown’s Jimmy O’Brien all featured prominently as Ireland made it all the way to the final of the Championships before losing out to host nation England.
There are many others who have gone on to bigger and better things after showcasing their talents on this stage and Prendergast is one of many that are expected to continue on an upward trajectory in the years to come. Yet for now his full concentration is on their duel with England at Paarl Gymnasium, which will be followed by pool stage fixtures against Australia (29 June) and Fiji (4 July) at the same venue.
“None of us have thought past the England game, we are not thinking of the big picture. We are just thinking what we need to do better than the Six Nations and what we need to do to beat England. That’s an end focus,” Prendergast added.
“You see from previous U20s World Cups, the quality of player that comes through. That’s great, but it also shows you what sort of opposition we will be up against. We haven’t thought big picture too much, we have just been thinking about England.”