NEWCOMER CIAN Prendergast has become an injury concern for the start of the Six Nations after the Connacht bolter picked up a foot injury in training which ruled him out of their Challenge Cup tie in Newcastle.

The 22-year-old, who made his Irish debut off the bench against Fiji in November, was due to feature against the Falcons but was pulled before the team was announced.

Connacht Director of Rugby Andy Friend, whose understrength side went down 35-21 and now face a last-16 trip to Treviso, is hopeful that the promising back-rower will recover for the Six Nations.

He was among a host of frontliners including Bundee Aki, John Porch, Kieran Marmion, Jack Carty, Dave Heffernan and Niall Murray, who were rested for their final pool game where they went down to a very costly defeat.

“Cian Prendergast was injured, that was a late injury, he was meant to be coming,” said Friend.

“He injured his foot earlier on in the week. We tried to push him through that but it became pretty apparent on Thursday that he wasn’t going to be right, so we ruled him out.

“I think he should be okay (for Ireland). There was a bit of caution there for that as well that he wasn’t right for us, but he should be good to go.”

The Kildare native has thrived since moving to the Connacht academy in the summer of 2020, making his debut within a few months and the former Newbridge College player has now made 39 appearances for Friend’s side.

His versatility and impressive form saw him called into last season’s extended Six Nations squad as a development player and he also toured New Zealand during the summer.

He captained the Irish development team against the Pumas when the Emerging Ireland squad went to South Africa in September before making his full debut in November.

His superb form in Connacht led to a contract extension last year, which will keep him at the Sportsground until the summer of 2025.