‘They come back with the wealth of knowledge and what applies to the Leinster game’
WHILE HE REMAINS a proud native of New Zealand, Leinster assistant coach Tyler Bleyendaal acknowledged he finds it exciting to watch so many people he works with on a regular basis lining out for Ireland at international Test level.
In the match day 23 that Simon Easterby selected for Ireland’s Six Nations Championship victory away to Wales last Saturday, there were no fewer than 16 Leinster players – including stand-in captain Dan Sheehan and senior debutant Jack Boyle.
Additionally, before joining the eastern province last summer from Super Rugby outfit the Hurricanes, Bleyendaal enjoyed a stint as a player with Leinster’s arch rivals Munster from 2015 to 2020. During this period, he counted Tadhg Beirne, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray amongst his list of team-mates and the same triumvirate saw game time as Ireland came from behind to defeat Wales on a final score of 27-18 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
“It makes it exciting to watch. You’re not 100% sure of the plan they’re trying to execute, but you know the individuals and what they’re capable of. You get excited and then you also get inquisitive sometimes. Then they come back with the wealth of knowledge and what applies to the Leinster game,” Bleyendaal said of the eastern province’s international contingent.
“That’s a really unique situation, I think. It’s quite exciting to sit back with a pint on hand on these off weekends and watch the match. Just enjoy it and watch the players that you are involved with often to be in a different environment, and not quite sure what they’re going to do.”
Mostly deployed as an out-half across his 62 appearances for Munster, Bleyendaal has a big part to play in the ongoing progress of Sam Prendergast on the provincial front. After enjoying a series of starts in the European Champions Cup for Leinster, Prendergast – who made his senior international debut at the age of 21 against Argentina in last November’s Autumn Nations Series – has also donned the number 10 jersey in Ireland’s three games to date in the 2025 Six Nations Championship.
Understandably, given it is such a pivotal position in the Irish team, the Kildare man’s performances over the past few weeks have been the subject of intense scrutiny.
Speaking as someone who displayed plenty of promise himself as a young player – he was top scorer when New Zealand won the World Rugby U20 Championship in 2010 – Bleyendaal feels the key for Prendergast is to strike the right balance between risk and reward within the international game.
“You’ve got to understand your skillset and how you can actually break down a test defence. You need a bit of extra sometimes and you need to take a risk, but I think the risk profile comes down to the team itself.
“There’s one thing having the skill sets and then executing them, and you need to have the other guys around you on board. Make the right decision at the right time. Speed and the pressure of test level is an adjustment that Sam will get used to, but I think he’s doing a good job at the moment.”
Although he wasn’t technically on the clock as he states above, Bleyendaal nevertheless had cause to view Ireland’s third round Championship showdown with Wales from an analytical perspective.
Following the departure of Warren Gatland from the hot seat in the wake of their defeat to Italy in Rome on 8 February, current Cardiff Rugby supremo Matt Sherratt was appointed as interim head coach of the Welsh for the remainder of this year’s Six Nations – beginning with Ireland’s visit to the Principality last weekend.
While his commitments to Wales for the rest of the Championship means he will be marked absent when they pay a visit to Leinster in the United Rugby Championship at the Aviva Stadium this Saturday, it seems unlikely Cardiff will deviate from how Sherratt has had them playing to date in this season’s competition.
The playing personnel might be different, but Bleyendaal believes the way Wales played against Ireland offers some indication of what Cardiff will bring to the table in Irish Rugby HQ this weekend.
“I think when we’re doing our scout for Cardiff, you can see trends maybe from how they defend, but also how they attack. I thought they [Wales] were a lot more ambitious with their attack. Jacques [Nienaber] would have seen some of those pictures and I think it’s a direct transfer from the coaching change there,” Bleyendaal added.
“It’s also different personnel altogether. I’m not sure if it’s going to be exactly the same versus Cardiff, but I thought Wales played a really good match on the weekend. Definitely were a bit more ambitious and put Ireland under pressure.”