Sam and Cian Prendergast will be notable brothers-in-arms for Ireland's first Nations Championship game, against Australia in Sydney, on Saturday. Cian Prendergast has been selected at no6 for the Wallabies game not least because Jack Conan is at no8 in the absence of the injured Caelan Doris.
Sam and Cian Prendergast will be notable brothers-in-arms for Ireland's first Nations Championship game, against Australia in Sydney, on Saturday. Ireland have a decent list of brothers who have played together including recent pairings such as Rob and Dave Kearney, Simon and Guy Easterby, Rory and Simon Best.
But Alan Quinlan has a top-trump when it comes to family affairs - he once played on a Clanwilliam side alongside two brothers and four or five cousins. Sam and Cian Prendergast will be notable brothers-in-arms for Ireland's first Nations Championship game, against Australia in Sydney, on Saturday. Cian Prendergast has been selected at no6 for the Wallabies game not least because Jack Conan is at no8 in the absence of the injured Caelan Doris.
Cian has the quality to be in the conversation with the coaches every week because what he's shown this second half of this season is consistency. He's very talented, quick, explosive, full of energy, but as the no6 and I'm certainly not saying I'm an expert here telling him what he should or shouldn't do. But I think the coaches he'll be working with, particularly Paul O'Connell, will be how he's worked around the breakdown.
It's the effort you put in there, putting pressure on the opposition breakdown, trying to get some turnovers, you pressure on mauls defensively, seeing if you can disrupt the opposition there. And I'm sure Simon Easterby as well, as defence coach, is talking about tackle technique and all that kind of stuff. Cian is a naturally gifted athlete who is starting to find his niche at the highest levels.
I like that he's become a little bit more dogged in the sense of narky and confrontational and maybe the bit of leadership thing with Connacht as captain has helped him to come out of his shell. Helped him to be more comfortable with being to the forefront as regards making decisions and dealing with referees and all that. In essence, I've always thought he's a very talented player.
I actually spoke to the Munster coaches a number of years ago saying there is this young fellah they should try and get him so I've always been a fan of his. Connacht's poor start to season and that Six Nations defeat to France in March haven't made selecting him as straightforward as it might have been. It hasn't always been perfect. The second half of the season was very good for Connacht, the first half wasn't.
But I think he's been very, very good throughout the season. I would say as a no6 he has got to show he can be in the opposition's faces a lot and try and get his hands on the ball and it isn't about running in open spaces. It's about sometimes making hard carries in around the fringes and running at people and trying to find little gaps and being physical.
Saturday will be a big day for the Prendergast brothers, kind of starting over as their first Test outing together did go as well as they might have hoped. It happened that opening 2026 Six Nations night in Paris and it wasn't such a good memory for anybody, it was tough on everyone, not just Cian or Sam.
But both have to just focus on themselves on Saturday and try and do their individual jobs, and hopefully that will feed into a collective performance or the team as well. It's a lovely moment for the family, and hopefully they can enjoy this weekend, but that only comes with a win
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