Connacht Rugby head coach Pete Wilkins is putting his faith in one of his younger players, Cian Prendergast, to captain the club to victory this season.
In their bid for a top-eight finish in the URC, Wilkins believes the 24-years-old embodies what the club stands for this season and in the future, delivering a “work ethic, mindset, and understanding of the game”.
“He’s the benchmark within our group in terms of the diligence with which he prepares – not just his body physically to play, but his work off field – in terms of his rugby knowledge, understanding of our game, and understanding the development of his craft as a player.
“He leads by example in that respect, but also very early on, he showed a willingness to challenge in a really positive way, whether that’s challenging his team-mates about what they’re delivering or what their potential really is, or indeed challenging us as coaches.”
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Wilkins says the “honesty and a courage” about the way Prendergast goes about his work is infectious.
“He’s certainly not the only one in the group with those attributes, but in terms of being a standard-bearer for us this season, I think it’s perfect in that regard.”
Wilkins adds that having a younger playing captain provides a “degree of freshness”.
“It’s not quite a reset, because I don’t believe we’re in need of total reset, but certainly the idea that we’re into a new chapter, and you know that there’s an expected increase in standards, increase in performance, and also increasing enjoyment of the environment, everything comes with that, and I think Cian will help influence that.”
Wilkins will also look to experienced forwards Joe Joyce and Dave Heffernan as the vice-captains.
“It’s not just leadership experiences, [it’s their] rugby experiences, life experience. I think to have them combined with Cian makes a really neat trio.
“We’ve got five other players as part of our player leadership group, so I think we’re developing quite a strong framework that maybe wasn’t there before.
“The other thing we’ll get is just different views on the game, different views on the culture that Joe and Dave will bring in, and I think that will complement him nicely.”
Connacht will head to Thomond Park to face Munster with a clean bill health – with only JJ Hanrahan on the long-term injury list.
Connacht, having finished 11th in last season’s URC with a 50 per cent win ratio, once again aim for a top-eight finish.
“That’s really important to us,” says Wilkins, in his second season in charge and his eighth with the province.
“Obviously, we’re ambitious. We want to be playing knock-out rugby in the URC. We want to be competing in the Champions Cup and having those sort of biggest occasions here at Dexcom, and to give ourselves the opportunity to make a mark in that competition.
“It is the same for us every season at the same time, though that only happens if we deliver a level of consistency that was almost certainly absent last year, whether that’s across 80 minutes, whether that’s week-to-week, we’ve got to earn the right to be in that top eight.
“We know from last season, one win or a few bonus points here and there can make a massive difference. So we’ve got that longer term goal for the season, but it’s what we’re doing week-to-week that’s going to earn us the right.”
Prendergast, the former Newbridge College student and older brother of Leinster outhalf Sam, takes over the captaincy from 32-year-old Jack Carty, who begins a 12th season with his home province.
“We have to pay enormous tribute to Jack Carty for how he’s led the team over the last two seasons,” says Wilkins.
“He did not just lead the club. He absolutely represented us with pride and has gone above and beyond, almost too selfless at times.
“So to have someone [like Cian] coming in at this stage of his career and being ready to take on this responsibility, as well as freeing up Jack, it gives Cian an even better platform to impact the group, and I see it as an actual evolution for him and also for the squad.”
