Sam Prendergast leading race for Lions 10 jersey claims recent tour captain

Former tour captain Sam Warburton is backing Sam Prendergast as the British & Irish Lions’ next starting stand-off.

Wales legend Warburton captained the Lions on the 2017 tour of New Zealand and says he now believes that the Leinster star has overtaken Marcus Smith for the coveted ten jersey this summer in Australia.

Going into the tournament, rookie Prendergast might have been a long shot to steer the Lions Down Under, but his maturity, particularly in Ireland’s 27-18 victory over Wales in round three of the Guinness Six Nations, was enough to convince Warburton.

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“I see a world-class top level 10. You just watch him play and you go ‘He is Test level’,” Warburton told BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly podcast. “There’s time when they get the ball and he just goes ‘I’m going to spiral this 60. And then Gibson-Park did the same on three box kicks that we picked out.

“The game management comes to fruition in the last 10, 15 minutes, 20 minutes really… and that was the game for Wales, Ireland. That 20 minutes Ireland really controlled.

“Jamieson Gibson-Park really stepped up. Prendergast – which I wouldn’t expect for his age – really stepped up from a game management perspective.

Co-host Ugo Monye was in agreement: “He’s a brilliant fly-half. I love the tricks and the flicks, some of his gorgeous assists, but when you’ve got a ten who can manage a like that… I want my flyhalf in international rugby to be a 7 or 8 out of 10 in their game management.

“When you can spank the ball 50 to 60 metres with a tight spiral the way he does, you can imagine what it does for the energy levels of that forward pack.

Warburton went on to say that he’d now pick Sam Prendergast as the British & Irish Lions’ starting stand-off. “If you asked me after the Autumn, I would have said Marcus Smith. If you ask me now, I’d say Sam Prendergast.”

When asked the same question, former Scotland captain John Barclay said: “I still think Finn Russell.”

British & Irish Lions head coach Andy Farrell may yet lean towards selecting Prendergast at fly-half. Finn Russell’s Six Nations form has been mixed, while Marcus Smith, now operating at full-back behind Fin Smith for England, is not getting the regular 10 jersey game time needed to stake a stronger claim.