Sam Prendergast answered that leading question like a 70-cap Test veteran.
Ireland huffed, puffed and mauled to a five-point win over Italy, in Rome, to keep their slim Six Nations title chances alive. Dan Sheehan ran in a hat-trick in a match that saw two Italian players receive 20-minute red cards.
Prendergast came on for the final quarter, replacing Jack Crowley, and he was the recipient of a new Six Nations player award. Following the game, the Leinster outhalf was awarded the BKT Rising Player Award.
The Rising Player accolade was introduced this year 'to celebrate players who have made significant contributions to their team throughout the' Six Nations championship. Oddly enough, the decision for Prendergast to get the prize was made after only four rounds, because there were pre-cooked, glowing quotes on the Six Nations website as soon as Italy vs. Ireland was over.
Prendergast was up against the likes of France second-row Mickaël Guillard, Scotland's Tom Jordan and Wales' Blair Murray, as well as England stars Fin Baxter and Caden Murley. To be eligible for the award, decided by a representative from broadcasters from each of the home nations, as player has to be new to the Six Nations tournament.
Upon receiving his award, Sam Prendergast spoke well about his debut championship, retiring Ireland legends and his British & Irish Lions chances.
Sam Prendergast with his BKT Rising Player Awards (Credit: M6N)
Sam Prendergast deals with Lions question
In a post-match interview on RTÉ, Sam Prendergast paid credit to his Ireland teammates for his 'Rising Player' award.
"Last week [against France] was a tough experience, and we had to get over that quickly to put in a good performance, this week. It maybe wasn't our best today, but we did enough to get over the line... I'm looking forward to signing off [the careers] of three absolute legends of Irish rugby."
Claire McNamara then posed the question to Prendergast about him potentially going on tour with the British & Irish Lions, to Australia, this summer.
CLAIRE MCNAMARA: Big summer ahead, maybe a trip to Australia?
SAM PRENDERGAST: Oh, I don't know about that, now, to be honest. I think I'm just going to enjoy a few days off, then looking forward to the end of the season, with Leinster.
Sam Prendergast has been named the BKT Rising Player of the championship #RTErugby #SixNations pic.twitter.com/4CDRAXU9dS
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 15, 2025
Ronan O'Gara or Johnny Sexton, in their primes, would be delighted with a dead-bat answer like that.
Sam Prendergast will be up against the likes of Finn Russell, Marcus Smith, Owen Farrell, George Ford and Fin Smith for what is likely to be three outhalf slots in the Lions squad, this summer.
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