"Incredibly Disappointed" - Cian Prendergast's first Ireland start alongside brother Sam brings defeat to France

The match marked the first Ireland starts together in the same XV for the Prendergast brothers, with Sam at the fly half helm and Cian unleashed on the blindside flank. Whilst the Connacht back row revealed how it was 'special' to have the opportunity to start for Ireland alongside his brother, the 25-year-old shared how the overall feeling is that of disappointment in defeat.

“It's always special when we get to play together." Cian Prendergast said. "We had family here at the game but ultimately we don't really like making it about ourselves during the week. We're just focused on putting on a performance for Ireland and we're just disappointed we didn't get to do it today.”

25-year-old Cian is two years the senior of his younger brother Sam. Despite having been previously on the books of Leinster in 2019, Cian did not ever feature for the Dublin side before making the move out West to join Connacht in 2020. Contrastingly, Sam broke into the Leinster squad from Lansdowne FC, and made his senior debut for the province in April 2022.

As a result, the two Prendergast brothers had yet to start a senior match together at club level, and the two had never started in the same match day XV for any previous Ireland caps. Cian reflected upon how the sharing the starting line-up had long been a rarity for the Prendergast siblings.

“Maybe some underage Gaelic football, but I don't even think we've started together in those games. It was cool and something we'll definitely look back on in a few years, but at the moment it's probably just disappointing we didn't get the result.”

“Incredibly disappointed. We came here to win and felt like we could get a result but we gave ourselves too much ground to make up in the second-half and they’re much too good a side, especially in France, to give yourself that task.”

“The build-up to the game was incredible." He added. "It’s an incredible stadium, it’s a massive privilege to get to plan in it and yeah it’s something I’ll definitely learn from and move on from and take a huge amount of pride in being able to be selected in a game like this.”

Ireland found themselves 22-0 down at the break, as France raced out of the gate to secure the bonus point win and commence their title defense. The Emerald Islanders rallied back in the second half with two well-taken tries, as Nick Timoney and Michael Milne got on the score-board for Andy Farrell's side. Prendergast took some positives from the tough loss, as Ireland held their nerve and did not roll over in what could have been an all the more emphatic defeat.

“It’s hard to know individually because at the time all you’re thinking about is the loss but the character the lads showed in the second-half, to put ourselves in a position where maybe we could have come back but we’d ourselves given ourselves that huge task.

“But I know the character of this group. I know we will bounce back. The Six Nations isn’t lost. It’s never won or lost in the first round so we’ll show up to work on Sunday, we’ll be honest with each other in how we review it and we’ll be a better side off the back of that.”

Looking ahead to the second round of the 2026 Six Nations, and Ireland are back home in Dublin for a week of preparations, before they welcome Italy to the Aviva Stadium. The Azzurri laid down the marker with a statement Six Nations victory over Scotland this past weekend, with Prendergast all the more aware to not underestimate Gonzalo Quesada's side as Ireland look to return to winning form.

"There has never been any doubt about the character of an Irish team. So I guarantee you we’ll show up now to camp. We’ll review the game, we’ll be honest with each other and we’ll go to work and get ready to put on a performance next Saturday.”

“No team in the Six Nations can be taken lightly. I’ve played Italy before, they’ve got brilliant players playing in the Top 14 and in the URC. They are physical, so it’s another challenge and we will just have to get ready for that.”