‘It was a bit emotional, my family shed a few tears’ – Sam Prendergast on an exciting week in the Irish set-up

Fresh from presenting his younger brother Sam with his first Ireland shirt last week and saying a few words in front of the wider squad, Cian Prendergast is ready to make this afternoon another memorable occasion for his family when he comes from the bench and stands up. together with his sibling for the first time.

As he usually does, Farrell invited Prendergast’s parents Mark and Ciara to the team hotel for a special moment that Sam will never forget.

“It was a bit emotional at the time,” he says.

“I didn’t really know who was going to present it to me before that time. It was a strange one and having my whole family there too. A few of them had a few tears. It was very special.”

There is an air of confidence about Sam in how he carries himself on the field and how he articulates himself off it. However, it should not be confused with arrogance.

The 21-year-old Leinster scrum-half owes a lot to his parents in terms of his grounded approach and for helping to harness the belief in his ability.

Mark and Ciara met in the same cadet class before going on to serve in the Irish Army, which led to the family living in Syria for a stint.

“He was a lieutenant colonel, he’s actually been retired for a number of years,” Sam says of his father, who now runs a successful leadership development program with his wife.

“He was abroad quite a bit and when I was five, Cian eight and my sister (Lara) two, we all moved to Syria for a year and a half, so we were done living in Damascus.

“I have fond memories of it. I met Diarmuid Mangan, who I played under-20s with, over there. His family were over there at the same time so we spent a year over there together, then we lived together when we went out of school, and were at Leinster Academy together, so it was quite a bit of a coincidence, and it was quite special to share special days with him as well.”

These different early life experiences have helped shape Sam, who is set to make his first Ireland start against Fiji today.

Farrell has made no secret of his desire to fast-track Prendergast as he appears to see him as Ireland’s long-term ’10’, although Jack Crowley (24) will certainly have a big influence on that.

“He just said to really be myself,” says Prendergast of his conversations with Farrell ahead of last week’s win over Argentina when he replaced Crowley for the last 28 minutes.

“Just to trust what I had done to get this far and try to be the best of myself. That’s what I tried to do, just put those few nerves behind me.

“I try to learn as much as I can, even when I’m not playing, so I can learn from other people’s mistakes and different situations, whether it’s in Leinster or Ireland, and I just try to keep becoming a better player.

“Obviously you want to play as much as you can, you never want to just sit back and watch other players play, but you also have to learn from them. There are people with more experience than you, you have to learn from them and then just try to kick on and do your own thing.”

Earlier this week, Bundee Aki became the latest Ireland player to say some of the things Prendergast does in training are “unbelievable”.

For the talented Suncroft, from Co Kildare, it’s all about remembering Farrell’s advice to stay true to himself, although he is quick to play down some of the hype from his teammates.

“I don’t really know,” smiles Prendergast.

“It might just be a weird kick . . . I don’t know . . . a couple of IUDs. I’m not really sure what they mean by that. I might try a few things. Some days it doesn’t really go to plan , a wet and windy day, and nothing falls off, you leave the track a little discouraged, and some days a lot of it falls off. That’s also part of the learning.

“So when you get to play games, it’s fun because you get to … not experiment, but you get to see what different things from the practice field can translate into games.

“In my younger years I would have been more into GAA and football and there would have been a few things like instead of bending my back to pick up the ball in GAA I would just try to flick it up.

“That sort of thing would be tried to be coached out of you, but I just enjoyed it. But never in rugby. I think a lot of the coaches and good influences I’ve had just wanted me to add other things to my game to complement it as well.

“I wouldn’t say I’ve done anything too crazy in a match. It’s just constantly trying to add things to get better. Constant progression really.”

Perhaps it’s no surprise then that Prendergast, along with Johnny Sexton, name-checks maverick halves Danny Cipriani, Quade Cooper and Damian McKenzie as inspirations.

Prendergast is still growing into his 6ft 4in frame, but he doesn’t take too kindly to a colleague’s suggestion that his “light” physique will present a challenge when it comes to the demands of defending the ‘ten’ channel, particularly against an aggressive side like Fiji.

“I definitely think I can get better at it,” adds Prendergast, now foot-pounding in frustration at the line of questioning.

“Small? I think that’s a bit harsh, I’m just quite tall. I could definitely put on some size. I’m not in a big hurry to do that. I think I’m reasonably heavy for the position I play.

“I’m definitely trying to get better at my defence. I’ve been working with Leinster and Ireland coaches on that. Jack (Crowley) has defended very well in the first couple of games, Johnny (Sexton) was a great defender, people that I see up to like Owen Farrell, great defender.

“Obviously it’s a big part of the game. You spend half the game without the ball. You have to be very good at it. I’m really trying to get better at it. I think that little thing is a bit harsh.”

Spoken as a young man confident of proving the doubters wrong by delivering at the highest level.