SAM THE MAN

Boy wonder SAM PRENDERGAST has had plenty of highs and lows for a young fly-half with Leinster and Ireland

- words PAT MCCARRY

PEOPLE THINK that I'm small until they meet me,” Sam Prendergast remarks as we step out of a gazebo and back into the bracing winds swirling about Ticknock.

The Leinster and Ireland outhalf is 6ft 4in and stretches beyond most mortals. In rugby terms, though, he can come across slight when the big units are roaming.

This is my first time speaking one-on-one with Prendergast. Many of Ireland's Leinster brigade are pleasant fellows but give little away. They play it safe. “None of them have been north of the River Liffey,” former Leinster flanker Scott Fardy once joked. “They're all strictly South Dublin. Go to the same places, eat at the same places. Straight on a plane from Dublin to Portugal... that's why they got James Lowe in - to loosen them up a bit!”

Prendergast also has a refreshing looseness to him. He is not too polished and media-trained just yet. Perhaps less ravaged by the seasonal press duties, glad-handing and extras that come with the job. He is part of a growing set of Leinster players from outside of Dublin. He lives up there now, with his old friend Diarmuid Mangan, but is a few strides away from that Dublin 4 tag that many at Leinster have trouble shaking. He lived in Syria for 18 months, from the age of five, spent his formative years in The Curragh and went to Ballysax Primary School before heading along to Newbridge College.

Prendergast is up the Dublin Mountains for an Ireland jersey launch with Canterbury and Intersport Elverys. He is doing his best - between interviews - to pose steely-eyed for pictures in short sleeves as gusts whip and whirl. Everyone else is layered up and cosy. Jamie Osborne is nearby, reliving his British & Irish Lions experiences, while Ireland women's stars Erin King and Vicky Elmes Kinlan beam for pictures with fans who have literally hiked up to see them.