Farrell 'confident' Prendergast can shine on first start

Autumn Nations Series: Ireland v Fiji

Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday, 23 November Kick-off: 15:10 GMT

Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds, live text and commentary on the BBC Sport website and app

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell says he is "confident" Sam Prendergast can handle the biggest occasion of his young career after naming the 21-year-old Leinster fly-half in his team to face Fiji.

Farrell has handed Prendergast the number 10 jersey for the first time after he was used off the bench in the closing stages of last week's win over Argentina.

Prendergast has only started eight games for Leinster but Farrell believes he is ready for the Test arena after impressing on the recent Emerging Ireland tour of South Africa.

"I'm confident from what we've seen. We took him on the Emerging [Ireland] and he played in all of those games," said Farrell.

"The aim of that was to grab hold of that team and make sure that he treated it like it was his own as though he was in charge and he did that in spades.

"This week we've seen the benefit of that but we need to see it transfer obviously."

When asked about Prendergast's temperament, he added: "His character is composed, confident but yet not over-confident. He's assertive in what he wants and he has a nice way about how he goes about his business."

Farrell has made seven changes for the Fiji game with Ulster back row Cormac Izuchukwu and Leinster hooker Gus McCarthy handed their debuts.

"Izzy has been in and around the squad for a while. The first Emerging Ireland tour was when we first came across his ability, his athleticism, his point of difference," observed Farrell.

"That was a couple of years ago but the improvement in his maturity of his game, because he was young in the 15-a-side game when the first tour was on, but the difference between the first and second tour was like chalk and cheese.

"His ability and potential with that maturity, he deserves a shot to show us all what he's got."

On McCarthy, who captained the Ireland Under-20s to a Six Nations Grand Slam in 2023, Farrell said: "He's been a captain and you can see why because his maturity in how he goes about the game."

He added: "We took him on the training week [to Portugal] as a development player and he showed up unbelievably well. He forced our hand to keep him in the squad first and foremost and he deserves a shot to see what he can do as well."

Farrell also said Jacob Stockdale "deserved" his recall after handing the Ulster wing his first Test start in over a year.

"His form has been great and he's been back in the fold with us albeit not getting an opportunity over the past 12 months.

"We've seen that improvement in his game. He's chomping at the bit and this is opportunity to show us what he's about at this level again."

Ireland followed a dispiriting defeat by the All Blacks in their autumn opener with a 22-19 win over Argentina last week.

But having led 22-9 at the break, the Irish were forced to fend off a spirited Pumas side in order to avoid back-to-back home defeats.

"Better discipline, more continuity in how we play, which leads to more pressure being put on the opposition," Farrell said when asked what he wants to see from his side on Saturday.

"The same intent that we had in the first half and the same desire we had in the last five minutes to see out the game. All in all there's a mixture of things."