Sam Prendergast has had a lengthy list of firsts in 2024; a first Irish call-up, a first knockout game for Leinster, a first Irish cap, a first Champions Cup start and a first Irish start. The list goes on.
With his 22nd and final game of 2024, there was still time for one final first, as he played his first big Interpro against Munster.
The 21-year-old looked comfortable on the big occasion, scoring a try and kicking three from three off the tee as his side ran out 28-7 winners at Thomond Park to maintain their 100% record this season.
While Leinster have dominated this fixture in recent seasons, it has done little to dampen the occasion when these sides meet, and if anything the atmosphere at games between the pair is as good as ever, with more than 105,000 supporters attending the two this season.
Friday's atmosphere at Thomond Park was as you would expect, with a sold out 26,000 crowd doing their best to rattle the visitors.
And for Prendergast (below), it was an experience he loved.
"I’m enjoying playing and enjoying these opportunities. I had never played against Munster. I had never played down here at senior level so I enjoyed the crowd getting on top of us a bit.
"It makes it quite enjoyable," the Leinster out-half says of playing in front of a boisterous home crowd.
"I was only saying that that’s the good thing about the derbies: there are such good crowds at all the games that it just makes it very enjoyable and a bit more intense. That’s where the fun really is."
There was a considerable spotlight on Prendergast in Limerick on Friday, after he leapfrogged Munster’s Jack Crowley in the Ireland depth chart during the Autumn Nations Series.
However, the young out-half joked that he didn't feel like he was getting any special treatment from the Thomond Park faithful.
"No, I think they just hate all of us so it was equally across all of us."
The 28-7 final score doesn't give a true reflection of Friday’s game, where Leinster were clinical in attack, making quite a small number of real attacking opportunities count.
Not for the first time this season, it was their defence that proved to be their best weapon, particularly in the first half when Munster enjoyed a significant spell of pressure.
Through 11 games, the province are giving up an average of just 11.8 points per game, while only Edinburgh and Ulster have scored more than 12 points against them in a game.
"The leaders on our team are very good at keeping the whole team calm. I never felt at any stage that there were was anyone overly flustered," added Prendergast.
"We all felt very calm in the way we were speaking to each other, dealing with situations. The leaders on team deserve a lot of credit for that. They keep everyone level-headed and we move on to the next moment.
"I thought our defence was very good today. Nothing is ever going to be perfect because rugby is a game with so many moving parts. You're not going to get a perfect performance, but we're constantly trying to get better at it.
"Obviously, Garry [Ringrose] and Robbie [Henshaw] are very good defenders and have always been at the highest level, they're brilliant at telling you what to do and feeding off each other.
"Everyone is enjoying defending at the moment. The effort when they were on our line was brilliant. Everyone was in and we eventually get the ball down at the other end.
"Everyone is enjoying defending, the energy was infectious tonight."
