BOTH PLAYERS have started big games for the province in recent weeks, and there appears to be every chance Sam Prendergast and Harry Byrne will continue to battle it out for the number 10 jersey at Leinster as the current season progresses.

After starting against Connacht in the United Rugby Championship seven days earlier, Prendergast was once again selected at out-half when Leinster faced La Rochelle at the Aviva Stadium in the pool stages of the European Champions Cup on Saturday.

Yet it was Byrne who received the nod at number 10 when Leinster defeated Leicester Tigers in Pool Three of Europe’s top-tier on 12 December, and he was also a starter in this key position when the eastern province overcame arch rivals Munster at Thomond Park in the URC 15 days later.

Additionally, the weekend’s tussle with La Rochelle saw Byrne replacing Andrew Osborne on the hour mark — with Prendergast switching to full-back — and he subsequently kicked a stoppage-time penalty to earn Leinster a 25-24 victory.

While he joked it wasn’t necessarily something he would have been pleased with during his own playing career, Leinster attack coach Tyler Bleyendaal is more than happy for both Prendergast and Byrne to continue seeing regular game time at fly-half.

“It’s competition, and we kind of rotated guys in and out. They’ve started, they’ve played together. They’ve subbed for each other. I don’t think we’ve landed on the perfect formula yet, but they’re both playing well. I think when the team’s operating well, when they’re both on the field or either one is on the field, I think that’s a good sign for us,” the former Munster out-half remarked at a media briefing in UCD yesterday.

“They probably lead the week slightly differently. They have their slightly different strengths, but I think they’re both playing at a decent level at the moment. Not just a 10-position, but it’s definitely a discussion point for selection as coaches meet.

“I like it when it’s more fluid. I like the fact that you can drop a guy in, and the team can still operate well. The team needs to be confident to play and not be solely reliant on the one guy. If I was playing, I’d probably just want to play! So I’m not saying they’re happy about it, but I feel it’s great for the team.”

A Six Nations Grand Slam winner with the Ireland U20s in 2019, Byrne returned to Leinster last summer after spending roughly six months of the 2024/25 campaign on loan at English Premiership outfit Bristol Bears.

This meant Bleyendaal didn’t have a huge amount of time to work with Byrne, who made four appearances off the bench that amounted to just 48 minutes in the New Zealand native’s debut season as part of Leinster’s coaching staff.

However, based on what he has seen since he returned to the Leinster fold, Bleyendaal has been impressed with the way Byrne has gone about his business.

“I only had, obviously, a short spell with him last year, and then he left. When he’s come back, since day one, he’s been great. He’s always put the team first. He’s got a good confidence about him. He’s enjoying his rugby, I think.

“He enjoyed his time away, but he’s come back here, and he’s enjoyed himself here as well. He’s leading the group well, and I think we’re seeing some pretty confident performances from him.”

It will certainly be interesting to see who is selected from the start this Saturday when Leinster close out their Champions Cup Pool 3 campaign with a visit away to Bayonne in Stade Jean-Dauger.

In stark contrast to La Rochelle, whom Leo Cullen’s side have played seven times since May 2021, the Blues don’t have the same sense of familiarity with Bayonne.

This makes matters exciting from Bleyendaal’s perspective, even though Leinster are already guaranteed a place in the Champions Cup knockout rounds, and their upcoming opponents are out of contention for the same stage of the tournament.

“It’s a bit of an unknown, isn’t it? A team that’s got a pretty proud home record and perform really well at home. I would suspect they’re going to be fairly motivated. Very excited to go there. I don’t know of many in our team who have ever experienced going there to play Bayonne,” Bleyendaal added.

“Maybe some have been there with the World Cup preparation at the ground [Ireland faced Samoa at Bayonne in a warm-up game just before the 2023 World Cup]. It’s going to be exciting. We expect a bit of a cauldron and a really good atmosphere. A team that plays with a lot of pride, and they’re quite ambitious in how they play too.”