Big Sam Prendergast already ‘in a good place’ physically

GOOD PLACE: Sam Prendergast is in a good place and is physically stronger than he is given credit for. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Fair to say that Sam Prendergast has answered most of the questions asked of him since being elevated to the role of Ireland’s first-choice No.10. Not a small statement for a 21-year old who still has just the five senior caps to his name.

The Leinster playmaker hasn’t been perfect but he has showed clear signs of progress since the 22 minutes he banked on debut against Fiji last November through to the Six Nations defeat of Scotland in Murrayfield two weekends ago.

If we did a poll of remaining concerns then it’s no stretch to suggest that the youngster’s defence and physicality would probably be on top. He might stand 6’ 4” but his physique is rail thin in a world where muscle abounds.

Aled Walters is the man to quiz here.

Ireland’s new head of athletic performance has travelled the world working with everyone from Taranaki, the Brumbies and Munster to the Springboks, England and Ireland. His take on where Prendergast is and might have to go cuts through all the surmising.

“It’s interesting. People make comments about his physical development. It’s only when you see him in the gym and what he does that you might think differently about it,” said the Welsh native ahead of Ireland’s visit to Cardiff this weekend.

“He is a big man. He’s much heavier than I think people give him credit for. He is a heavy outside-half. And he is strong.

“He knows it’s still an area because he is so young and with maturity he will naturally get stronger, but he is fast and powerful and he moves incredibly well. So I don’t see it as a massive project for him to develop physically. He is in a pretty good place already.” 

There may still be ample time for Prendergast to develop physically but Walters makes the point that this is lessened in the short term with all the rugby he is playing now. It’s hard to put on beef on a Tuesday when it’s game day most Saturdays.

His defence isn’t on a level with that of Jack Crowley, and he has had to buckle up at times against England and the Scots in this Championship, but Walters is quick to credit Leinster’s S&C team for ensuring that the No.10 has been able to absorb all this to date.

“He’s quite lanky isn’t he, he’s quite thin. People think he is fragile and I don’t see it myself.” 

If Prendergast has kicked on from November then the same can be said for Ireland in general. Stuck in the traps against New Zealand, they played in fits and starts against Fiji, Argentina and Australia.

Their two efforts against the English and Scots in the Six Nations haven’t been close to perfect but the graph is clearly pointing upwards as they chase a third straight title and a second Grand Slam in three years.

Theories abound as to the whys but the suggestion at the end of the last window that the players might have been rusty in the run-up to that All Blacks opener certainly seems to stack up on an individual and a collective level.

“I think it's the stage of the season,” said Walters. “It was different this year, the fact there were no European games before the autumn, that had an impact on things. European games are probably the closest things we get to Test match rugby, so not having those may have impacted us.

“Even for me, coming in [to the new role] literally on the eve of the autumn, I couldn't really see what was going on, I didn't really know the group. There's probably a few factors there, but the players have played a good bit of rugby now, they're battle-hardened, they're fit. They came into us fit and Test match ready from the provinces.

“I think that's all lent to potentially a better performance in the Six Nations so far.” 

Another three, punishing rounds have still to go in this tournament but the grind will be all the greater come 2026 when the second rest week, between rounds three and four, is removed and the whole affair is run off in just six weeks.

It’s another squeeze on players that are already earning their corn in a punishing physical sport and one that is accustomed to 12- and 13-month seasons. The likes of Walters will be all the more important to have around then.

“It’ll come with a challenge but it’s not unlike the World Cup either when you think it is three games in a row [in the Six Nations], then you are expected to do seven games in a row at a World Cup.

“So it would be up to us manage things differently, to manage the week a bit differently. You might need to rotate players and build depth in the squad as well to allow a fresh 23 to go out every weekend.”