“There are gonna be 50/50 calls and we know.”
Heading into Saturday’s Champions Cup clash between Leinster and Harlequins, one of the main subplots was the battle of the rival out-halves, with both Sam Prendergast and Marcus Smith vying for a spot on the Lions tour this summer.
Both could end up going, but with the likes of Finn Russell, Fin Smith, and Jack Crowley to contend with, getting on the plane to Australia will be a challenge.
After a poor showing against France in the Six Nations, most would have given Smith the edge Prendergast heading into the clash at Croke Park, but the Irishman was excellent as the home side crushed their English opponents 62-0.
Smith wilted along with the rest of his team, and while Prendergast did have a relative armchair ride behind a dominant Leinster pack, Jim Hamilton reminded listeners of the Rugby Pod that the Irish No 10 showed heart against France despite being overpowered by Les Bleus.
The pundit also remarked that the manner of the defeat will definitely have hurt the Lions hopes of Smith and his England teammate and backrower, Chandler Cunningham-South.
He said: “There are gonna be 50/50 calls and we know, because we’ve spoken to coaches, we’ve been involved in those conversations as players, when there is a 50/50 call and it might well be between Sam Prendergast and Marcus Smith, that ticker, that fight away from home, and Andy Farrell, as we know, the warrior that he is, he ain’t looking at the headline things of the chip and chase and Sam Prendergast scoring a try off a short line.
“You go back to that game against France, where Sam Prendergast got an intercept pass and he ran back the whole way, but he showed ticker and he showed heart and desire.
“But 62-0 when you’ve got a team like Quins have got…yeah I think it’s detrimental to the likes of Marcus Smith and Chandler Cunningham-South.”
