Sam Prendergast shifts credit to players after big win

Leinster's Sam Prendergast is awarded with the Investec Player of the Match award Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Sam Prendergast picked up a trinket for the second week in succession, another player-of-the-match accolade, on foot of nuanced kicking, passing and running and a 16-point haul, that included a try, which he started and finished in Leinster’s 48-23 victory at the Stade Marcel-Michelin.

The young outhalf was first minded to pay tribute to his pack for giving him a platform, the time and space to bring to bear his talent. “I thought we played quite well. Our forwards were very good. We got a bit of ascendancy in the second half.

“I think a lot of it was just [down to] forward dominance. I thought our pack was excellent. Scrum, lineout defence and maul were very good. That got us into the right areas of the pitch and meant we could convert when we got [there].

“We love it [the Champions Cup]. We’re ambitious but we knew it [would be] such a tough game. We aren’t really looking too far ahead. We knew we had to come here and do a job and play properly, or we wouldn’t get a win.” 

He enjoyed every minute at the iconic venue. “It’s pretty special. I haven’t played here before. It’s an unbelievable atmosphere. You could feel it in that first half and coming back out for the second half. The place was hopping. It’s a surreal experience. The fans, it really feels like they’re on top of you.”

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen also touched on one of the most atmospheric grounds in world rugby but first paid his respects to the late Lions lock Hyron Andrews. “It’s a great stadium, a great crowd, [but] a bit of a sad day with Hyron Andrews and what happened to him.

Our thoughts are with the Lions and all the families connected to them. We only played the Lions a few weeks ago so horrific news to wake up to on Friday.” 

He also paid tribute to Leinster’s travelling support. “We have a lot of Leinster fans here which is great. It’s an amazing place to play rugby and we’re delighted to get a win. 

“Huge credit to [forwards coach] Robin McBryde and the work the forwards did this week because we stole a lot of lineout, which is great, and then obviously to get a penalty try from the scrum in the second half; it is a big momentum shift in the game.”

He briefly looked forward to next weekend’s game, when Leinster host Munster in the URC. “Yeah, we played Munster in round four last year in the URC and we were well beaten in Croke Park. They’re making good progress themselves at the moment.“

The form book goes out the window. It will be a great challenge for us back in the Aviva Stadium next Saturday.”

Leinster’s pack won the game, and a standout was their openside Josh van der Flier. He too paid his respects to Andrews before returning to the performance.

"We’re very happy with that game. We worked really hard, to be honest. We’ve been training well the last few weeks and it all kind of clicked there. We all really enjoyed playing here. It’s obviously a team we have a huge amount of respect for. I remember watching games here on TV as a kid and it’s always been my dream to play here.

"A lot of lads were the same, it’s one of the great kind European grounds to come to. They are a very good team and we managed to put in a performance we’re very proud of, so happy with that."