Ireland out-half Sam Prendergast wasn't one bit surprised that he came in for extra attention during yesterday's victory over England.
The 21-year-old Guinness Six Nations debutant rode a couple of early late tackles and was sat down by Ollie Lawrence at the start of the second half but never looked fazed across his hour on the pitch for the 27-22 win.
The Kildare man made his international debut just three months ago and got the nod over Munster's Jack Crowley to start against England.
"It was mixed, personally. I thought the team played quite well," said the Leinster back when asked about his championship debut.
"I don't know if I was calm for the whole game, or if I was calm in the build-up.
"It’s hard to know what vibe I’m giving off. At times, I get a little bit flustered.
"It’s a high-contact sport with quite a lot of moving parts. It’s pretty impossible to stay calm at all times. But I like to stay as calm as I can most of the time.
"Teams do [target] most out-halves anyway. You learn it coming up playing Gaelic football, soccer and rugby.
"It’s just a part of the game. Even when you are 14 or 15, people will try to do different things to you.
"You just learn how you react to it, what works for you and what’s different. There are times I get it wrong and I’m sure I’ll get it wrong again. You try to move on and not get aggravated by it."
Prendergast missed two conversion attempts, the first of which was well within his range but the kick looked rushed with just four seconds on the shot clock before he struck it against the outside of the post.
He admitted that the new 60-second rule will take some time to get used to.
"It's frustrating, shouldn’t have missed them. Especially that one on the 15," said the former Newbridge College pupil, who landed a long-range penalty to put Ireland ahead in the 55th minute.
"The [shot clock] takes getting used to. It was brought into URC and Champions Cup as well, it’s quicker.
"A penalty is 60 seconds and that feels you have a lot more time.
"On a conversion it can seem quicker, I’ve seen a lot of players rush.
"And I’m not too sure when it was 90 seconds if there was too much time-wasting, to be honest.
"I don’t know, it feels very quick off the back of a try. You have to get used to it, learn from it and practice as if it was 60 seconds and learn to nail the kick."
The young man cut a calm figure when addressing the media after the game and didn't have to pause for thought when asked about the most pleasing aspect of his championship bow.
"Winning," he said.
"Yeah, when England are coming here it is quite a big one and you want to win.
"That’s all that really matters. Winning is the most important thing about today."
Simon Easterby's side next face a trip to Murrayfield on Sunday to take on Scotland, who beat Italy 31-19 on Saturday.
Watch highlights of all of the weekend's games on Against the Head, Monday, 8pm.
