Sam Prendergast's first start as Ireland's number 10 saw a promising display, marked by a crucial line kick that set up their opening try and active defensive contributions.
While Gus McCarthy had tears in his eyes as he looked up into the stand during Ireland ’s anthems, his fellow 21-year-old Sam Prendergast kept his gaze down towards the ground. The out-half was alongside his older brother, Cian, and one can only imagine the strength of feeling in those moments. It seemed as though Prendergast was keen to keep a lid on the emotions and get to kick-off for his first start in Ireland ’s number 10 shirt.
The Kildare man nailed his first big involvement in the game, landing his second penalty line kick 6.5 metres out from the Fijian tryline. Prendergast takes his time over the kick, determined to earn Ireland a lineout as close to the Fijian tryline as possible. It’s safer to be less ambitious in these instances but the difference of a few metres is important. Because Ireland are left so close to the Fijian line, the visitors have to seriously worry about the maul threat. The attack Ireland produce from the lineout feeds off that threat as they dummy to maul but instead break around the back with hooker McCarthy sending Caelan Doris into space for their opening try. The line kick from Prendergast certainly helped. It’s a good start for Prendergast, who soon has his first defensive involvement. Prendergast closes up from the backfield, where he has been covering kick space, to tackle wing Jiuta Wainiqolo as Fiji move the ball to the edge. Out-halves tend to spend lots of time in the backfield, holding or dropping there after kicks rather than working into the frontline defence. It means they have to be alert to the need to ‘close the gate’ like this, with the other backfield defender – Jamie Osborne in this instance – simultaneously shifting across to cover behind them. Prendergast completes the tackle on his inside shoulder. But less than a minute later, just as Fiji’s attack comes to an end, Prendergast errs after closing up for a second tim
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