Sam Prendergast wants to follow up on ‘good day’ against Japan

G'DAY: Sam and Cian Prendergast celebrate Ireland's Nations Championship victory over Australia in Sydney with their parents, Ciara Ware from Carlow and Mark Prendergast. Pic: INPHO/Ben Brady.

Fresh from booting Ireland to their sixth straight victory over the Wallabies, Sam Prendergast wants to keep his foot on the gas and stay in the driver’s seat against Japan on Saturday in Newcastle.

After being dropped early in this year’s Six Nations campaign following a shocker in Paris, the 23-year-old returned for last weekend’s Nations Championship opener in the absence of Jack Crowley and did enough to win high praise from his boss Andy Farrell following his match-winning conversion.

Without overstating Prendergast’s performance, Farrell merely said it was a “good day for him” following the composed strike that led Ireland to their 33-31 come-from-behind win.

It wasn’t just the clutch goal-kicking either, with Prendergast regularly finding the five-metre line from penalties against the Wallabies.

His torpedo kick early in the second half was a thing of beauty too, with his clearing effort relieving pressure and turning the screws on the Wallabies.

Prendergast, however, wasn’t doing cartwheels over his performance.

After all, a few years in and out of the side has already taught him some harsh lessons.

Asked to describe his own performance, Prendergast called his effort “patchy” and didn’t gloss over the pass he threw that was intercepted by Wallabies flyer Max Jorgensen to set up the home side’s fourth try and second in three minutes in the first half.

“I felt like we were good at times and I feel like that was my performance as well,” he said.

“I was good at times, bad at times, a bad intercept, a couple of missed tackles.

“I suppose I'm just pleased that we were able to maybe just stick it out as a team and individually that I was able to just keep going and then able to come away with a win.” 

On the kick, Prendergast said he felt comfortable booting the ball into the sea of Irish fans as he ran through his pre-kick routine.

“Just hit the ball through the right-hand side, right-hand side of the ball, yeah, just make sure not to miss it left,” Prendergast said.

“I was pretty calm to be honest. There was still a bit of time left.

“You just have little things you're trying to make sure you do, and then once you take care of them, like that's all you can really do.” 

Although most have focused on Prendergast’s late conversion, the No.10 didn’t shirk the tough stuff against the Wallabies either.

Indeed, the playmaker put himself in front of bulldozing loose-forward Rob Valetini.

While he came off second best, he quickly got up and managed to have a few touches ahead of Jamison Gibson-Park’s crucial try after the half-time siren.

Prendergast was the latest to talk up Hugo Keenan’s player of the match performance, too.

“He was brilliant, wasn't he?” Prendergast said. “He rarely misses a one-on-one tackle. He's just excellent.”

The win was also a timely one because it continued the positive vibes against the Wallabies in Australia 15 months out from the World Cup down under in which Ireland is out to make some history.

“I've never been to Australia before, but I love it,” he said. “The last few weeks, the amount of Irish people there [is wild]. I bumped into someone who's from my hometown and they were chatting with my parents.

“The amount of people who are over here, you obviously see that. Even Zombie was playing at the end. It's class.” 

Having only been handed the reins after Jack Crowley’s unusual blood vessel issue in his knee, Prendergast, who admitted it was tough watching for the second half of the Six Nations, said he was keen to continue in the No.10 jersey and not hand it over as Farrell ponders his side for the Japan Test.

“I haven't had a particularly long career but I've experienced a good few games in Six Nations where you're not involved and it's a killer, so you just want to keep playing,” he said.

Should he be selected, Prendergast will come up against a Japanese side full of confidence after their 27-10 win over a much-improved Italian side.

“They were very good in the autumn when we played them. They were incredibly difficult to play against and then they've obviously just had a great win against Italy, and Italy are a great side,” Prendergast said.