Farrell claims Ireland prodigy Sam Prendergast is 'ready' for Test rugby

Ireland's Andy Farrell believes that the time has come for Leinster and Ireland prodigy Sam Prendergast to make his mark in Test rugby.

The Ireland team will take on Argentina on Friday night in Dublin, and young Prendergast has been named on the bench for the clash. Prendergast was included in Farrell’s extended squads for the Six Nations and the summer tour of South Africa this year but never made it onto the pitches. However, his enormous talent is widely recognised by his peers.

Tomorrow, Jack Crowley will start as Ireland's No. 10, but it is very likely that Prendergast will get his first Test minutes at senior level due to Ciarán Frawley’s exclusion from the squad. This is barring injury.

"He’s ready," said Farrell on Thursday.

🗣️ "He's ready..."

🗣️ "He's a confident kid."

Andy Farrell talks about rising star, Sam Prendergast, who's been named on the bench for Friday night's battle against The Pumas at the Aviva!#Rugby | @BankOfIreland | #NeverStopCompeting pic.twitter.com/LnwQb8haEi

— Off The Ball (@offtheball) November 13, 2024

Farrell has also been impressed by the confidence and swagger the young outhalf has shown in his career so far. The Emerging Ireland tour to South Africa allowed the Kildare native to take charge of on-field matters, and this has been noticeable to Farrell.

"For a young fella who hasn’t had much game-time provincially, he’s obviously had more of it late, but in an ironic way, he’s probably been patient enough. In his own mind, he’d probably thought he was ready for quite some time because he’s that kind of kid—a confident kid.

"The experience that he’s got from being around the squad has made him comfortable in his own skin.

"The reason for taking him on the Emerging Tour was to make sure that he understood what it was like to grab hold of his team and show that he was in charge. He showed that in abundance, and we’ve seen the knock-on effect from that in the squad over the last couple of weeks.

"In his own mind, he’s ready. He’s a young kid in a pressurised position. Obviously, he’s going to make mistakes, but that’s the nature of anyone coming through."

Ireland's game against Argentina will take place at the Aviva Stadium on Friday, November 15, at 8:10 p.m., followed by Fiji on Saturday, November 23, and concludes with a match against Australia for Irish rugby’s 150th Anniversary Test on Saturday, November 30 (kick-off 3:10 p.m.).

All of these matches will be broadcast live on Virgin Media in the Republic of Ireland and TNT Sports in the United Kingdom.