Sam Prendergast may have been heavily criticised for his defence over the past few months, but he has an ally in his Leinster coach Jacques Nienaber.
The two-time Rugby World Cup winner, who is regarded as the game’s premier defensive guru, has backed the Ireland fly-half to improve in that area.
Nienaber was impressed by how Prendergast defended in Saturday’s United Rugby Championship final victory over the Bulls and insisted that the playmaker is doing all he can to rectify that weakness.
Nienaber’s view on Prendergast
“He’s working incredibly hard and I thought he was big [on Saturday]. Everybody goes for the 10s, we all know that is the channel they’ll target,” he told Premier Sports.
“I think Sam is 22 so there’s still a lot of physical development that will happen with him. I thought on Saturday he was tremendous.
“Even last week [against Glasgow Warriors in the semi-final], sometimes people always see the missed tackles – let’s say he missed three or four – but you don’t see the eight he made.”
Nienaber is adamant that Prendergast has improved defensively this season but has warned that he will continue to be targeted by the opposition.
“For me, he’s really working hard and from last year to this year there’s been big growth in that, and he will have to continue to work on that because they’re always going to go after him in that channel,” he added.
“He knows that, so it’s something he has to grow into.”
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Nienaber himself has been under the microscope, particularly after his defensive system was ripped apart by Northampton Saints in the Champions Cup semi-finals.
There were claims that the 52-year-old had made Leinster too much like the Springboks and that his style did not suit the predominantly Irish squad.
However, there would have been an element of humble pie for those critics after the Dublin-based outfit dominated the Bulls attack and restricted them to just seven points in the URC showpiece event.
Nienaber’s honest admission
It led Nienaber to make an intriguing admission when speaking following their triumph at Croke Park on Saturday.
“The one thing for me coming to Leinster that I didn’t expect is the expectancy pressure,” he revealed. “There’s massive expectancy pressure on Leinster to perform.
“There were some pundits that would say, even if we win this trophy, it’s not good enough.
“As a group, we talk about it a lot. You’re not entitled to a trophy because you’ve got a good competitive group, it’s something you have to work for.
“Toulouse is not entitled to a trophy, it’s something they have to work for. That’s the key thing for us, there’s no entitlement.
“It doesn’t matter how good or competitive your squad is, you must still deliver and perform on big days.”
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/jacques-nienaber-gives-verdict-on-sam-prendergasts-big-weakness-and-opens-up-on-the-one-thing-he-didnt-expect-when-arriving-at-leinster
