CIAN PRENDERGAST ROUNDED off a glorious weekend for the siblings from Kildare when he guided Connacht to a shock bonus point win over the Stormers in Cape Town.
Less than 24 hours after younger brother Sam marked his return to the Leinster side with a haul of 14 points, including a try in their 29-21 over Ulster in Belfast, the Connacht skipper led from the front as they stunned a Stormers side with a dozen Springboks on board.
Prendergast set the tone in a bruising encounter when he took the charge to the South Africans only to be taken out by a high hit from flanker Deon Fourie. It earned the World Cup winner a yellow card and the Connacht skipper a bloody nose that pumped for the rest of the match.
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“I don’t know, I’ve never had a nosebleed like that,” Prendergast said. “I couldn’t breathe the whole game but the blood just kept pouring out.
“I started blowing my nose and then people were telling me to stop blowing your nose, it’ll get in your eyes and I didn’t know what to do.”
Prendergast said they had worked hard since arriving in South Africa after bowing out of the Challenge Cup in Montpellier and he said a combination of experience and young guns served them well as they gave their URC qualification hopes a huge boost.
“I’m proud of how the leadership group led the week and we just said we wanted to fire a shot, we want to be connected, we want to be physical and I think we demonstrated that and there’s senior players out there that showed that.
“But I’m also so proud of some of the young boys that stepped up for us. Harry West, Hugh Gavin, Mattie Victory that had to come on, Billy Bohan, they were absolutely immense and yeah, I couldn’t be more proud of those lads,” added Prendergast after his 101st appearance for the province.
He said that while it was a big win they would turn their attention quickly to facing the Lions in Johannesburg next Saturday.
“It’s massive but at the end of the day it’s still five points and you can get five points from any game so we’ll build on it and we’ll look to get two wins here in South Africa and that’s the aim now,” he added.
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'I couldn't breathe the whole game but the blood just kept pouring out'
CIAN PRENDERGAST ROUNDED off a glorious weekend for the siblings from Kildare when he guided Connacht to a shock bonus point win over the Stormers in Cape Town.
Less than 24 hours after younger brother Sam marked his return to the Leinster side with a haul of 14 points, including a try in their 29-21 over Ulster in Belfast, the Connacht skipper led from the front as they stunned a Stormers side with a dozen Springboks on board.
Prendergast set the tone in a bruising encounter when he took the charge to the South Africans only to be taken out by a high hit from flanker Deon Fourie. It earned the World Cup winner a yellow card and the Connacht skipper a bloody nose that pumped for the rest of the match.
“I don’t know, I’ve never had a nosebleed like that,” Prendergast said. “I couldn’t breathe the whole game but the blood just kept pouring out.
“I started blowing my nose and then people were telling me to stop blowing your nose, it’ll get in your eyes and I didn’t know what to do.”
Prendergast said they had worked hard since arriving in South Africa after bowing out of the Challenge Cup in Montpellier and he said a combination of experience and young guns served them well as they gave their URC qualification hopes a huge boost.
“I’m proud of how the leadership group led the week and we just said we wanted to fire a shot, we want to be connected, we want to be physical and I think we demonstrated that and there’s senior players out there that showed that.
“But I’m also so proud of some of the young boys that stepped up for us. Harry West, Hugh Gavin, Mattie Victory that had to come on, Billy Bohan, they were absolutely immense and yeah, I couldn’t be more proud of those lads,” added Prendergast after his 101st appearance for the province.
He said that while it was a big win they would turn their attention quickly to facing the Lions in Johannesburg next Saturday.
“It’s massive but at the end of the day it’s still five points and you can get five points from any game so we’ll build on it and we’ll look to get two wins here in South Africa and that’s the aim now,” he added.
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Cian Prendergast Connacht Reaction Rugby