"You mightn't recognise him, but this is Sam Prendergast..."
As Richie Murphy finished his media duties ahead of Saturday's World Rugby U20 Championship kick-off, the Ireland head coach's introduction of his out-half had more than a hint of sarcasm.
If you've had even a passive interest in Irish rugby over the last 12 months, it's likely you'll have seen the 20-year-old play.
The impending retirement of Johnny Sexton has seen any and all young out-halves in the country put under the microscope in recent seasons. Prendergast has passed the early eye-test.
After stealing the show in a Six Nations Grand Slam side in the spring, there were even some calls for him to be jettisoned into Andy Farrell's wider Irish squad for the Rugby World Cup in France. All aboard the Irish rugby hype-train.
Stripping back the hyperbole, there's no doubt that the 20-year-old has all the makings of a Test-level out-half. To start with, there appears to be an old head on those young, narrow shoulders. Much like his older brother Cian - currently part of the Ireland senior squad - the younger Prendergast looks undaunted by what's ahead of him.
While keen observers bought their stock in Prendergast when he led Newbridge College to the Leinster Schools Senior Cup final that was never played in 2020, his first real introduction to the Irish rugby public came a year ago, when he landed a late, long-distance penalty to see Ireland past England in the Six Nations Summer Series, before running the show in the 2023 championship as Ireland picked up a second successive Grand Slam.
Since that Six Nations win, the 20-year-old has gone on to earn his first two Leinster appearances, starting both games of their South African tour in April, scoring the winning penalty on his debut in the 39-36 victory against the Lions in Johannesburg.
"It was really good," the Kildare native says of his experience on that tour.
"All year, when I've been in with Leinster, I’ve just been prepping the lads to play for whichever game was coming. It was nice to then be on the other side of that, prepping for the game myself and just being able to get that mentoring off the coaches preparing you for a game.
"That was kind of nice, and then also being around quite experienced players like Rhys Ruddock, Ed Byrne, Max Deegan, Nick McCarthy. Lads like that, who are able to help you through the week and show you little things to help, which is quite good.
"I suppose I've obviously developed, but that’s probably down to a lot of the exposure in terms of coaching. High-level coaching all summer with the coaches we have at the moment. Getting to train for the majority of the year with Leinster as well is pretty good. A huge part of development would have been the high level of coaching I’ve received and the high level of training that has led onto games."
He doesn't have to look far for advice, with his older brother Cian having already established himself as an Irish international and a key member of the Connacht system by the age of 23.
"He has been on an upward trajectory," he says of Cian.
"It's been cool getting to see him develop as a player and become more professional. Getting to go to his games as well and seeing him succeed has been great.
"It’s a busy time for the family at the moment. He’s at home, I'd say he probably would have liked to have come over here to catch a couple of games, but he’s got more important things to be doing – training for the World Cup and hopefully getting into the squad for France."
As an out-half apprentice at Leinster, he has also been able to able to pick the brains of Sexton.
"I have chatted to him a few times. I probably haven't been that involved in the weeks that he has been there. At the start of the year when he was fit for Leinster, I was kind of on a bit of a development block preparing for the Six Nations.
"But any time I was called on in Leinster, he was away playing Six Nations, November internationals. I have chatted to him but I have only ever trained with him a handful of times really. It’s been great to get to chat with him."
Prendergast continues in the 10 shirt for Ireland's opening game of the World Championship against England in South Africa on Saturday, just over three months on from defeating Mark Mapletof's side to clinch a second successive Six Nations Grand Slam.
Having been one of the standout players in the spring, Prendergast is likely to have a target on his back during the championships, something he says is just par for the course.
"All 10s do [become a target]," he added.
"I didn't really notice it too much - any extra treatment against England. Any out-half gets a bit of that but I didn’t notice anything extra. I wouldn’t have seen anything too outstanding that they targeted me on.
"They have a lot of very good individuals, a very good backrow, some outside backs that are very quick. They are a very powerful team and they did cause us a lot of problems in Musgrave Park so we are prepared for that and are hopefully better equipped to deal with that."
