Leinster coach Tyler Bleyendaal reveals ‘skill error' Sam Prendergast must improve for URC final against Bulls
LEINSTER coach Tyler Bleyendaal has backed Sam Prendergast to rediscover his shooting boots ahead of the URC final against the Bulls.
Although Prendergast weighed in with seven points as the Blues
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The Leinster number 10 had a poor day from the tee by his standards
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The former Munster out-half is looking to help guide Leinster to URC glory
Nevertheless, it is anticipated the Kildare native's name will once again be included in the Leinster XV when they take on the South Africans in the decider at GAA HQ this Saturday.
And assistant coach Bleyendaal — who previously lined out in the No 10 jersey for the vast majority of his 62 outings for Munster between 2015 and 2020 — said he is happy with the progress of the 22-year-old Ireland international, who made his debut for Leinster in April 2022.
He said: 'I actually thought
'His goal-kicking maybe was one skill error, but the way he led the team around, I thought, was great.
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'The stats showed that we played well and we applied a lot of pressure.
'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.
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'I'm enjoying Sam and how he operates. I'm sure he's still learning but he's a competitor.'
With the likes of Saracens and La Rochelle proving to have been bogey teams for the province during the knockout stages of the European Champions Cup, Leinster have also suffered considerable heartache against the Bulls at the business end of the URC.
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After losing to the South African outfit in a semi-final encounter at the RDS in June 2022, Leinster also fell short against Jake White's men
There was another
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And with their European disappointments also thrown into the mix, it has been four years since Leinster last lifted a major piece of silverware.
That triumph was the 2021 PRO14 final against Munster with Ross Byrne and Cian Healy both playing starring roles in the 16-6 victory.
However, the experienced duo are among those who are set to depart the set-up at the end of the present campaign.
And Bleyendaal believes a win in Croker this weekend would serve as a fitting send-off for the pair.
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The former All Black underage star continued: 'I think the importance of the occasion, we're excited to be in a grand final.
'We want a send-off, there's a lot of good people in our club moving on.
'We understand we haven't performed in the knockouts.
'There is a lot of motivation from inside, which at some stage you just have to trust that you're going to perform at the level you need to.
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'As coaches, we'll have a plan of which direction we think we need to go to get that out.
'Come the end of the season, most of the work has been done and we're just trying to get the plan in place.'
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