'HIS CEILING IS VERY, VERY HIGH AND WE HAVEN’T EVEN SEEN THE START OF IT YET'

MIKE CATT WAS asked yesterday whether Sam Prendergast reminds him of any out-halves he has worked with or played against. The Ireland assistant coach took a long pause and smiled.

He then attempted to bat the question away by commenting on the 21-year-old’s impressive ability to spiral kick, joking that it was the reason Prendergast was part of Ireland’s squad to tour South Africa.

Pushed again, Catt opted not to draw a comparison for public consumption.

“I won’t say who it is.”

Clearly, Ireland are conscious of not piling too much pressure onto Leinster out-half Prendergast but it’s also clear that they’re excited about his potential.

The Kildare man has only started six senior professional games for Leinster, where he was fourth in the pecking order earlier this season, but Ireland boss Andy Farrell was convinced that bringing Prendergast to South Africa was the right thing to do.

He might not play in the two Tests against the Springboks but equally, an injury to either Jack Crowley or Ciarán Frawley would catapult Prendergast into the matchday 23. Farrell and co. could have made a safer choice with their third out-half.

“His ceiling is very, very high and we haven’t even seen the start of it yet,” said Catt. “He is very, very exciting.

“He runs the week very, very well.

“Obviously for the future, he can learn a lot from this environment. Going forward he deserves an opportunity. That is what we have gone with.

“It’s his confidence and his aura around the thing and just being with this environment and this group can accelerate his development even more.”

Whatever happens in South Africa, Prendergast will be aiming to drive on rapidly with Leinster next season, challenging first-choice out-half Ross Byrne for the number 10 shirt, which Harry Byrne and Frawley are also contenders for.

The evidence of this Ireland squad suggests that Farrell and Ireland would like to see Prendergast getting as much exposure as possible for Leinster.

“You’ll have to ask Leinster that really, but they’ve got four outside halves there and they’ve got to manage it,” said Catt when asked if it was frustrating not to have seen even more of Prendergast for his province.

“There’s been a World Cup as well, there’s been injuries as well, so they’ve had to manage it but going forward that’s something obviously that Leo [Cullen] and the Leinster guys, and Faz, I suppose, need to sit down and discuss.

“Yeah, it’s just what it is at the moment and we don’t dwell on that, we’ll just go, ‘Right, this is what we want and this is where we will go.’”

For now, Prendergast appears to be in the role of watching and learning with Ireland, given that Frawley is expected to provide the bench cover for starting out-half Crowley.

“Having someone like Frawls in there who has got an extremely high skill-set, but also, if you are going to look at going to a 6/2 bench, he comes into the scene because he can cover so many different positions,” said Catt.

“There is a good combination and three or four players who we can choose from, so it’s a healthy environment.”

At scrum-half, Ireland will be without key man Jamison Gibson-Park, who is such an important creator for Farrell’s side.

But Catt denied that the absence of the injured Gibson-Park will change how Ireland play, instead highlighting that Conor Murray, Craig Casey, and Caolin Blade can step up.

“These guys have been around camp for the past three, four years or 12 or 15 years, whatever Mur has been around,” said Catt.

‘It’s not going to change anything in terms of how we do things, it just gives those other guys an opportunity again to cement their place going forward.”

Ireland are also without first-choice fullback Hugo Keenan, who is with the Ireland 7s for their tilt at an Olympic medal next month.

Jimmy O’Brien is the favourite to wear the number 15 shirt against the Springboks, with Catt wishing Keenan well after his switch.

“I think it’s great,” said Catt. “Hugo wanted to do it. I think it’s a little bit like Dupont, he’s at that right age where he can great up his 15s season, and luckily, he’s fit enough to be able to get into the squad.

“There was no certainty he would get into the squad either because they had performed really well. For him to get into the squad is huge, and so he’s fully committed.

“Anybody of Hugo’s stature, he’s going to be missed in any team he plays in, but it gives somebody else an opportunity to come in and put their best foot forward.”

2024-06-25T10:50:29Z dg43tfdfdgfd