Sam Prendergast admitted he was almost overwhelmed by the atmosphere inside Murrayfield before his star turn in Ireland's 32-18 Six Nations victory over Scotland on Sunday afternoon.
The Leinster out-half was excellent throughout, kicking three of four conversions and two penalties in a composed and intelligent performance.
He looked unfazed in the Edinburgh caudlron, but Prendergast revealed afterwards that he was bowled over by the pre-match noise and passion.
"It was an unbelievable game and a savage atmosphere," said the 21-year-old.
"I couldn't really believe it when the national anthems were being sung. I was trying to focus on the task at hand but it was pretty special.
"I thought we started unbelievably in the game. We put so much pressure on. It wasn't perfect but we just kept piling on moments. I thought we did really well in the second half when they got their purple patch to then come back. I think that shows a good bit of character from us.
"It wasn't perfect from us but it was better than last week and we'll keep trying to get better week on week."
First day playing outside of the country for Ireland and Sam Prendergast is man of the match with 12-points coming from his boots.
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) February 9, 2025
FT: Scotland 18-32 Ireland
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Having started superbly, and leading by 12 points at the break, Ireland did have to weather a storm early in the second half, with the Scots getting it back to 17-11 on 50 minutes.
James Lowe's try settled them again, with Jack Conan getting over to seal the bonus.
"It was pretty pleasing overall," said Caelan Doris. "We knew that Scotland are obviously a quality side, full of belief. And coming over here, we knew we needed to start well.
"We targeted a fast start, and it was something we mentioned through the week - not allow their crowd and their belief and confidence to grow. I think we did that quite well. Obviously we scored early on and had a few held up over the line as well.
"There was quite a bit of pressure going on them in the first half. They came back firing early in the second and scored the end towards the end there. It was tough Test match but pleasing with the result, definitely."
Up next is a trip to Wales on Saturday, 22 February. Victory there would set Ireland up for an enormous clash with France in Dublin, before a trip to Italy in their last fixture.
"We're in a good place," added Doris.
"Obviously momentum is big in this competition. Two from two. So it's just about continually improving. That's been the message from day one. Knowing that we need to evolve, continue to get better. And even today, there's so much growth still in us. So much areas for improvement. We'll be targetting that over the next couple of weeks."
