Leinster coach backing Sam Prendergast ahead of Bulls final

Irish Daily Mirror

20 hours ago

Sam Prendergast remains in pole position to start at no10 for Leinster against Bulls in the URC Grand Final at Croke Park on Saturday.
Assistant Coach Tyler Bleyendaal, a former All Black U20 World Cup winning out-half himself. was quick to praise the incumbent Leinster no10 for his performance against Glasgow in the semi-final.
"I actually thought Sam on the weekend played a good match," said Bleyendaal yesterday, "his goal-kicking maybe was one skill-error but the way he led the team around, I thought, was great.
"The stats showed that we played well and we applied a lot of pressure and I think a lot of that is from Sam's leadership on the field. He is probably one of his harshest critics, it's getting him back into the plan for this week, take the learnings.
"He has been engaged and he's looking to get a plan in place along with the other game drivers, I'm enjoying Sam and how he operates and I'm sure he's still learning, but he's a competitor."
Bleyendaal captained the winning New Zealand U20s at the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship in Argentina and made his debut for Crusaders against Blues in 2012 at Eden Park, the first of a spell of 21 games where he posted 111 points all told between 2012-14 for the club.
A not altogether dissimilar experience, young and at the coalface, to what Prendergast is going through at the moment.
"Yeah, any of my own experiences is something I can draw on because I've been through them. Even some of the things that haven't gone well for me, you can share those experiences, but it doesn't mean that Sam operates in the same way.
"So he's going to go about his business. It's getting his game and leadership style aligned with the plan we want to go forward with. On the most part, he's doing a pretty good job."
Prendergast, he says, is coping well with his 23 games to date this season - eight URC, seven Champions Cup, five Six Nations and three Autumn Series which breaks down as 20 starts and three appearances as a sub.
"I think he's getting through the season fine, don't think there's any ill effects. I don't look at him and think he's getting beaten up or he's slowing down.
"I feel like he turns up every week, he's got good energy and he's young, I think he recovers well. The pleasing thing to see is that he puts in the work during the week and he goes out and backs himself on the weekend."
Prendergast's place-kicking was poor last week but that was unusual.
"Jeez, being a kicker myself and sometimes you have a bad day," continues Bleyendaal suggesting that, for kickers, the slate is wiped on Monday mornings, they are used to going again, picking up the threads.
"Sometimes you have a rubbish warm-up, a great game. Sometimes you have a great warm-up, a rubbish game. But he was back to work today, kicking a lot of balls.
"As far as I'm aware, he wasn't kicking yesterday, but you never know, he might have been at home nudging a few. Like I said, he puts in the work, prepares well.
"He's his harshest critic, but he's got a great work-rate. This week is another week. He's enjoying engaging with the planning of the week and putting in his own skill development as well."
The post-Leinster review indicators are that Prendergast will remain at no10 while Gloucester-bound Ross Byrne, who came on for the last quarter, will remain as back up.
"Ross is an experienced player, he's been in a lot of those situations and I think he enjoys that part of the game with the play-calling, the in-play management of the game, he's a great asset to have.
"It's a different dynamic to Sam, but I thought he played well when he came on against Glasgow.
"There's a few leaving at the end of the season Ross, there's Church (Cian Healy), there's a lot of people in there who have played their last game, or will be playing their last game and are moving on and that's why I said the motivation for what we want to do and play for is there.
"There's a lot of people at this club who have been here longer than I have who have experienced lows and a lot of success, this is our opportunity to try and perform well, get another trophy and send them off well."
Ciaran Frawley is Leinster's third option in the out-half but it might be significant that he was brought in for Jordie Barrett last weekend while, two minutes later, Byrne was brought in for Prendergast.
Frawley has started six games for the Blues at no10 this season, Dragons, Munster and Connacht last November, Ospreys in February, Sharks in March and Ulster in April.
At the same time Leinster have employed the six-two bench split three times since Christmas with Frawley as the utility back/no23 in the last two, Bulls in Pretoria in March and Scarlets in the Aviva in April."
Whatever about the no10 slot, there is no doubt the out-half will be playing outside Jamison Gibson-Park with Luke McGrath taking a spot on the bench regardless of whether it is a five-three or six-two split.
Continues Bleyendaal: "They're definitely different and so are all of our 10s. They all have different strengths, offer in different ways both in voice, skillset, actions.
"If you pair them up with Jamo, they'll still be themselves. You can't mould them into each other.
"Scrum-half, I think Lukey provides that calm and experience and has the ability to snipe, attacking game. With our young No 9s that played during the season, they offer something different.
"It's just when they all come together, what the combination is, it's about how they fit into what the team is trying to do. As coaches, that is what we've to try and guide and direct."