Familiar Faces Helped Prendergast Prepare For Murrayfield Cauldron

Former out-half and captain Jonathan was brought into the Ireland coaching set-up in November on a consultancy basis, dipping in and out with kicking work and mentoring players. He has continued in the role for the Guinness Men’s Six Nations.

His younger brother Mark, a highly-rated attack coach who is leaving Connacht at the end of the current season, previously worked with Sam with the Ireland Under-20s when they were U-20 Six Nations Grand Slam winners in 2023.

He will be involved in the Mike Prendergast-led Ireland ‘A’ coaching team for their upcoming match against their English counterparts, so was brought into the senior camp, along with Sean O’Brien, ahead of the clash with Scotland.

Now making strides at senior level, Sam enjoyed getting some time on the training pitch again with Mark (pictured below with Andrew Goodman and Simon Easterby), and also said that the elder Sexton’s guidance has been hugely valuable in his first few months as a Test player.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport following his player-of-the-match performance in Edinburgh, the 21-year-old said: “Johnny’s been unreal. I’ve said it many times but I never got to experience too much of him actually playing with him.

“So it’s just been unbelievable to then chat to him about so many different situations, whether it’s kicking, general play.

“I think he’s done a lot for my kicking in terms of the mentality around it. He’s been very good. His brother, Mark, was actually in with us this week as well.

“That was a nice blast from the past because he was with me (as backs and attack coach) in 20s two years ago, so it was pretty good to get to reconnect and learn a bit off him as well.”

Playing his part in the 32-18 bonus point win, Prendergast’s bid to hold onto the number 10 jersey was strengthened by an assured individual display.

He landed five of his six place-kicks for a 12-point haul, and swept a long cut-out pass over to Calvin Nash for the opening try. He had a good run down the blindside of a scrum in the lead up to Caelan Doris’ score, and was involved in the build-up to James Lowe’s second half effort too.

Whilst admitting to ‘a little bit less nerves than last week’, he said it was good to put some of the learnings from the England game into place but that he had ‘a few learnings out there today that I want to put right’.

His role in Ireland’s fast start was all the more impressive given he was playing his first international away from home, and that Scottish Gas Murrayfield can been an intimidating venue, especially when Scotland get their tails up in front of a capacity crowd of over 67,000.

Reflecting on what it was like to play in, the Kildare native commented: “It was an unbelievable game and a savage atmosphere. I couldn’t really believe it when the anthems were being sung. I was just trying to focus on the task at hand but it was pretty special.

As a team we had a much better performance today. We’d a much better start (than against England) and that leads you on to feeling like you’re more into the game.

“It wasn’t perfect but we just kept piling on moments. We kicked on a bit, Scotland had a purple patch and we dealt with it well. I think that shows a good bit of character from us.

“It was better than last week and we’ll keep trying to get better week-on-week. It’s good craic now, just enjoying each other’s company in the dressing room.”

Prendergast received post-match praise from both Simon Easterby and Gregor Townsend. Giving his opinion on Ireland’s attacking shape that brought ‘tight running lines that put your defence under pressure’, the Scotland head coach noted: “There’s a reason what they picked Sam. He’s someone that can play that game very effectively.”

The player himself was keen to focus on the team effort, and the influence of those around him in giving him the time and space to impact the game. After two rounds of the tournament, he has 15 points to his name, and a total of 547 kicking metres from 20 kicks.

When keeping ball-in-hand during the victories over England and Scotland, he has made seven carries for 52 metres, making one linebreak and breaking four tackles.

Preferring to talk about the effectiveness of his team-mates rather than his own passing skills, he remarked: “In terms of the distribution, I think if you look across our back-line and then the platform we get off our forwards…some of our backs, like ‘Jamo’ (Jamison Gibson-Park) inside me.

“You’ve got the three lads in the centre, ‘Ringer’ (Garry Ringrose) came on, and all the back-three, it makes my job a lot easier. They’re all word-class players, so it makes me look a bit better.”

It is a case of ‘two down, three to go’ for Ireland, with a chance to win the Triple Crown next up against Wales. Prendergast is well used to taking it ‘one game at a time’, an approach which served his U-20 side so well during their 2023 Grand Slam-winning campaign.

Another cherished memory from his Ireland U-20 days is meeting his family and friends in the stands afterwards, and he got to repeat that yesterday when embracing his parents Mark and Ciara, sister Lara, and girlfriend Anna at pitchside.

“The only experience I have of the Six Nations is 20s and it’s similar in terms of building game by game, take each game as it comes, not focusing on milestones but more on getting better each week.

“Now we’ve a week with no game so it’s going to be a good opportunity for us to learn and get better, and bring that into the following week’s game in Cardiff.

“It was special (seeing my girlfriend and family). I knew they were coming over and it was cool to give them a hug after the game. It was a bit of a relief, pretty good,” he added.