Ireland elevation swayed Leinster call to start Sam Prendergast against Bristol

“Sam played on Saturday [against Australia] and played the previous weekend against Fiji as well,” said the Leinster head coach. 

”He's been the starting Ireland 10 for the last couple of weeks and that's the way we have to judge it, him coming back in.

“I thought he acquitted himself really well in both of those games and he deserves to start this game I think. Even just that relationship with Jamison [Gibson-Park] he's had over the last number of weeks as well is an important factor.” 

Still, Cullen did admit that it had been a challenge in selecting this team in a number of different ways given there has been next to no time between that Australia game and this tie at Ashton Gate against a side sitting second in the Premiership.

He spoke of “some gut calls” in terms of combinations and getting the balance right in terms of players who might be battle-hardened, battle-weary or, in the case of the non-internationals, lightly-run after a lengthy URC break last month.

Prendergast has already played eight games now this season. Two he started for Leinster, another three came with Emerging Ireland in South Africa and then there was the other trio for the senior national team in the bloc just gone.

It is clear now – if it wasn’t already – that he has leap-frogged ahead of Leinster’s three existing Test out-halves in Ross and Harry Byrne and Ciaran Frawley with the first of those on the bench against Bristol and the last of them starting at full-back in Hugo Keenan’s absence.

Cullen was clearly chuffed to see how Prendergast fared at the highest level.

“It's pleasing to see how Sam has progressed over the last three weeks, coming off the bench against Argentina when the game is very much in the balance, and then starting the game against Fiji. We know Fiji, unbelievably physical.

“I thought he adapted pretty well to the game both sides of the ball. He stood up defensively, some of the challenges that gets thrown down his channel. From an attacking point of view, he's going to get whacked about a bit as well.

“I thought he stood up to that challenge pretty well. The national coaches showed a lot of confidence in him in terms of picking him against Australia, and that's a top-end team he's up against. It's really pleasing to see how that month has gone for Sam.” 

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Keenan picked up a wrist injury in that Wallaby win and is out for roughly four weeks as a result. James Lowe is also sidelined, in his case with a calf problem, although the length of his absence isn’t known just yet.

And there was some belated detail on the nature of the issue that kept Tadhg Furlong throughout the November window with Cullen addressing the question as to whether the tighthead brought his injury into that camp or if it pre-dated it.

“It's probably a bit of everything. He had a niggle going into camp. On his return to try and get back playing he had a setback there. He is on the road to recovery. It will be a couple of weeks, I think, which is what I gather from him.

“That's a on a week-to-week basis, hopefully it's a little bit quicker.”