What has impressed Jamison Gibson-Park most about Sam Prendergast

Jamison Gibson-Park has backed Sam Prendergast to handle whatever comes his way if he wins Saturday’s de facto Lions trial head-to-head with Fin Smith and makes it on the plane to Australia this summer.

The 22-year-old has won eight Ireland caps, starting alongside Gibson-Park in five of them, and the Leinster duo will combine again this weekend as the Investec Champions Cup bridesmaids take on Northampton, the team they beat at the same stage of the competition last season, at the Aviva Stadium.

It is Prendergast’s maturity beyond his tender years that has most impressed Gibson-Park since the precocious talent made his Test debut in November last year.

“I think it is his mindset above all else, he has taken to the highest level very well,” said Gibson-Park, when asked about the standout quality of his partner for club and country.

“It’s been pretty remarkable for someone of his age, it’s been really impressive to see, even just the way he is demanding stuff out of others.

“For someone his age, it is not an easy thing to do well, but he’s taken to it really well, and he is a great fella to have around; he loves a bit of banter.”

Fixture

Investec Champions Cup

Leinster

34 - 37

Full-time

Northampton

All Stats and Data

Banter might be in short supply in the other Lions half-back duel between Gibson-Park and Northampton’s Alex Mitchell.

While the odds on Prendergast’s name being included when Andy Farrell names his squad on Thursday, May 8th, are probably slightly better than 50:50, you’d think that the opposing scrum-halves are likely shoo-ins to make it to Australia.

Gibson-Park and Mitchell have competed against each other several times in the past, but the Ireland international insists the sparring will be purely rugby-related rather than verbal.

“I do enjoy the battles, for sure. We’ve had some good ones,” he said.

“I don’t know Alex personally, there wouldn’t have been much banter over the years, just footy really.

“He’s a very dangerous player, and whether it is Ireland or Leinster, they’ll be quite a big focus put on his game and how much of an influence he has when the Saints are going well.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

4

Draws

0

Wins

1

Average Points scored

36

22

First try wins

100%

Home team wins

60%

While Saturday’s semi-final has obvious Lions connotations, Gibson-Park insists May 8th hasn’t been underlined in his diary.

Despite the 33-year-old from Auckland being an obvious pick to be the Lions’ starting nine this summer, the make-up of Farrell’s squad hasn’t been at the forefront of his mind.

“It’s an interesting one, there hasn’t been too much (Lions) chat around, it’s more when you’re with an international team, I find there’s a lot of chat around the Six Nations and that kind of stuff.

“The team naming is coming around and it is what it is really, it is not something that I’ve pencilled into the diary or anything like that, you have to keep doing your work with your province and hope things go well.”

Gibson-Park was a teenager when the Lions toured New Zealand in 2005, and he remembers it as a “massive occasion” with huge levels of support. All that is to look forward to, though, with a blockbuster Champions Cup fixture his only focus this weekend.

Leinster have come up just short in the last three finals, agonisingly losing to La Rochelle twice, before the heartbreak of last year’s extra-time defeat to the only European club more decorated than them, Toulouse.

Jacques Nienaber’s team are strong favourites to win against Northampton, having not conceded a point in their last two knockout games against Harlequins and Glasgow, and they have the benefit of playing in front of a partisan crowd.

Leinster have looked almost unstoppable in those recent Champions Cup wins, but Gibson-Park doesn’t subscribe to the theory that complacency might be their biggest enemy.

“I don’t think it is too much of a challenge because we have come unstuck the last few years in the final, so there’s obviously that side of it, and we have also got some pretty unbelievable coaching staff who’ll make sure we are grounded, as well as the good players we have. So I don’t think we’ll be getting too carried away with ourselves,” he insisted.

“You have to stay in the moment. There are some unbelievable teams. Northampton, I suppose, have been a little bit up and down in the Premiership, but they’re flying in Europe, so it is going to be a tough challenge.

“They nearly tipped us up last year in the semi, so I don’t think we can get too far ahead of ourselves at all.”