‘I only want to play for Leinster’ – Sam Prendergast wants to be number one choice at outhalf
Despite giving some thought to the idea of a temporary switch to an interprovincial rival, Sam Prendergast has said Leinster is the best place for him as he looks to progress up the out-half ladder from a provincial perspective.
In competition with the likes of Ciaran Frawley, Ross Byrne and his younger brother Harry for the number 10 spot in Leinster, there was some talk towards the tail end of last season that Prendergast might make a loan move to Connacht for the current campaign in order to gain more opportunities as a starter.
Given his older sibling Cian has been with the westerners since 2020 – and was recently named their club captain – this is an arrangement that would have made a lot of sense for Prendergast.
Yet the Kildare native ultimately opted to remain within the eastern province and is now set to make his second start of the present term when Leo Cullen’s men take on the Lions at the Aviva Stadium in the United Rugby Championship this evening (kick-off 5.15pm).
“I suppose you’re always thinking ‘well maybe I can do better with a bit of game time’ and stuff like that. Did I give it thought? I suppose I did, yeah. Being honest, I did, and it was selfish, but it’s also from a team point of view as well. All I was thinking was ‘how do I become the Leinster number 10?’,” Prendergast remarked earlier this week.
“I only want to play for Leinster. That’s where I want to achieve things, but it’s how do I become the Leinster number 10? It was giving the thought of ‘is it from going to somewhere else where maybe I’ll get more game time?’ I ended up not thinking that was the best decision, but I did give it thought.
“Eventually I just decided this is the place. Well, I suppose I never had to think about that, whether this was the place for me, it was just how do I get to being the number one here. I think that’s a constant battle because there’s always people ahead of you and there’s always people coming up behind you.”
Although tonight’s game will be Prendergast’s first appearance for Leinster since their URC opener against Edinburgh on September 20, this is partly due to the fact that he started all three fixtures that Emerging Ireland played on their recent tour of South Africa. Having been part of the main international squad for their summer visit to the same nation in July, Wednesday also saw Prendergast being named in Andy Farrell’s 35-man selection for their upcoming Autumn Nations Series campaign.
Joining him in the squad for this international window is his aforementioned brother Cian, who has three international caps to his name. After following in his footsteps on several occasions in the past, the younger Prendergast will once again be seeking to emulate the 24-year-old Connacht forward in the near future by making his Ireland senior debut.
“When I was younger, maybe in second year or third year in school, I wasn’t hugely into rugby, but then that was when he [Cian] started to play Leinster U18s and Irish U18s. I was watching it like, ‘yeah, maybe this is what I want to do’,” Prendergast added.
“Then when I’m still in school, I think it was during covid when I was doing my Leaving Cert, you’re coming home on a Friday night and he’s playing different games. Starting to break into the Connacht team and he’s playing for their first team. It was great to watch him playing and you’re always aspiring to be better and better.”