CONNACHT HEAD COACH Pete Wilkins has described the province’s new captain Cian Prendergast as the “embodiment of what we want to stand for”, while revealing an improved culture is a key focus for the group heading into the new season.
The western province open their new URC campaign with a trip to play Munster on Saturday, with Wilkins naming Prendergast as his new captain yesterday.
Speaking to the media today, Wilkins outlined why Prendergast was the outstanding candidate to take on the captaincy, while also addressing some of the issues that plagued the province last season.
Connacht struggled for consistency in Wilkins’ first year as head coach, finishing 11th in the URC table and missing out on a place in the play-offs. Wilkins admits his team need to sharpen up across numerous aspects of their game, and also revealed the need to improve the “spirit and culture” around the club has been addressed during their preseason preparations.
“There is no silver bullet,” Wilkins said. “There is a whole range of areas we have looked to address. Some of it is refining and reducing some of the ideas we have around attack, defence and set-piece. We had a wealth of input last season in terms of how we were trying to evolve the game and improve and sometimes simpler is better. And simpler doesn’t have to be boring or mean a lack of ambition. We’re going after a few fundamentals in each aspect of the game and trying to do them brilliantly week after week.
That’s the key bit of it and behind that is what we’re standing for culturally. It might not be something I will discuss too much publicly. The group having a better understanding of what kind of spirit and what kind of culture we are trying to represent here within the team.
“That provides an anchor which can often help draw out that consistency, particularly when you are under pressure. So there are a few things we’re going after, a couple of big areas, and I can’t wait to see if there is evidence of that in the Munster game and beyond.”
This weekend’s round one trip to Limerick will see Prendergast step up as captain, with the 24-year-old taking over the role from Jack Carty.
“I think it’s about his embodiment of what we want to stand for this season and the seasons to come in terms of his work ethic, his mind-set and his understanding of our game,” Wilkins said.
“We have to pay enormous tribute to Jack Carty in how he has led the team for the past two seasons. Not just in the club, but he has represented with us with pride and has been almost too selfless at times. So to have someone coming in at this stage of his career, and be ready to take on that responsibility will free up Jack but also give Cian a better chance at making an impact on the group. And I see it as a natural evolution for him but also the squad.”
Prendergast joined Connacht in the summer of 2020 after failing to secure a place in the Leinster Academy, and the Kildare native quickly established himself as an important member of the first team squad, with his influence growing year on year. Last season he started 21 games for the province, while he’s also earned three Test caps with Ireland.
“He certainly is young in years, (but) he is the benchmark in our group in terms of the diligence with which he prepares. Not just physically with his body off the field in terms of rugby knowledge and the understanding of our game, and the development of his craft as a player.
“He leads by example in that respect, but also from early on he showed a willingness to challenge in a really positive way, whether that is challenging his team-mates about what they are delivering or what their potential really is, or indeed challenging us as coaches in terms of how we can contribute more and better to the programme.
“There’s an honesty and courage in the way he goes about his work and that’s infectious. He’s certainly not the only one within the group with those attributes but in terms of being a standard bearer for us this season he is perfect in that regard.
“He embodies a lot of the values we talk about in house. In fairness, Jack Carty embodies a lot of those as well but just in a different way to Cian. That’s the nature of leadership.
“Also it is a new appointment, a player earlier in his career and that adds a degree of freshness. Not necessarily a reset because I don’t believe we are in the need for a total reset, but we are certainly in a different chapter and there is expected increasing standards and performances, but also increasing enjoyment of the environment which comes with that. Cian and his appointment will help influence that.”
