Sam Prendergast passed his audition with flying colours on Friday night at the RDS, but the question of where he will play his rugby next season remains.
Reports last week linked the 21-year-old Leinster out-half with a possible loan switch to Connacht, where his older brother Cian also plays.
Prendergast has played 15 times for the province this season and is in competition for the 10 shirt with Ireland internationals Ross Byrne, Harry Byrne and Ciarán Frawley.
Connacht, meanwhile, have Jack Carty but will be without JJ Hanrahan for a number of months after the out-half suffered a serious knee injury against Dragons in April.
Speaking following his side's season-ending BKT URC loss to Leinster on Friday night, Pete Wilkins heaped praise on the former U20s star but was adamant any discussions are off his radar.
"Yeah, look, he’s a lovely player, I think he’s got huge potential. As things stand, I don’t know about it and that’s not trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes," he said.
"It’s genuinely reflecting where it’s at.
"We have obviously lost JJ for the best part of next season, certainly until the New Year anyway. I think it’s important we get another 10 in, partly as back-up to Jack Carty but also as competition.
"I think both JJ and Jack have stepped up this year in terms of having that competition with each other, so I think it is important [to sign an out-half].
"Who that is going to be, I honestly don’t know.
"We are at the stage of compiling a shortlist. That can be people outside of Ireland. We have scope to do that for something like this.
"I think it will be a short-term agreement or a medium-term loan, but you also look in Ireland and that means for something like that to come to fruition, you need the IRFU aligned with whatever the chats are.
"You need any of the parent clubs, the other provinces to be aligned as well, so it’s not a straightforward process.
"But we definitely want to bring someone in and we will see where we go over the next couple of weeks."
Prendergast (below) assisted three of Leinster’s five tries and kicked four conversions in an assured showing in the 33-7 victory.
Asked about the performance being a positive indication for his prospects for next season at Leinster, head coach Leo Cullen, whose side face a third clash with Ulster in the quarter-finals on Saturday, said: "Yeah, definitely.
"When you’ve got young players, 20/21 years of age and you’re sort of in the academy cycle or you’re stepping into the senior ranks of the team, as I’ve said, you have to keep picking them.
"I know lots of people would love us to pick the exact same team all the time, but unfortunately that’s not how it is because you then when you need to fall back on players or whatever that is, have competition for places and all the rest, that’s what you need.
"It requires us to be brave at different times and pick young players, and listen, I thought Sam did lots of good things.
"Every young player, all the players have things to work on, so it’s just about improving all the time. We don’t just want to have players ready to play at this level, it’s to play at the levels beyond that as well – be top-end international players.
"That’s a big part of what we are trying to do here. But yeah, it was another positive step for Sam and his development to get through 80 minutes.
"You saw lots of positive involvements during the course of the game. He was obviously 10 for the first 60 minutes and then even he moves to 15 as well towards the tail end of the game. So, yeah, it’s another positive outing for him."
Meanwhile, after his first year in charge Wilkins (above) reflected on a disappointing season in which they lost nine games, including their last three.
The Westerners, under then-boss Andy Friend, reached the semi-finals last year.
"Yeah, it's fascinating," he said about the step up to the top position.
"I think when you step into this head coach role, it's probably like a lot of jobs when you step up.
"You have a clear idea of what the job looks like on paper, you feel confident that you're the right man for the job in terms of qualifications needed to get the appointment but there's actually nothing like doing it and living it each day to really understand what's required.
"I wouldn't say I've been surprised in any way by any of the responsibilities, I think the biggest bit that I've probably have to learn on the job, certainly in the first six months, was how to balance out all those responsibilities.
"There's obviously a huge aspect of the rugby and how we train and play the game, there's the cultural bit, the leadership of players and of staff and it can quickly become a job that feels like it is three or four different roles.
"As you work through the season you find a way of bringing all that together and actually filtering what makes a difference and what doesn't, so that's been my big learning as well.
"For us, looking at the last seven or eight seasons for Connacht even before I was here, the defining factor for us having positive rather than negative seasons is that we're bloody hard to beat and I think this season at times we've been too easy to beat.
"Whilst we might be in games and have decent periods in games, you get those pressure releases and they're very hard to come back from in a league that's getting better and better.
"So the character and probably the type of rugby that makes you very hard to beat, that needs to be aligned to the ambition and the will to use the ball as well.
"I've got some pretty clear ideas around that and I'll look forward to putting that into place.
"If I could start pre-season now I would and that's not just me trying to be stoic about it, I'm full or energy, full of determination, I just want to get on with it.
"My wife would be disappointed, I get a kick under the table whenever I say that, and I think the players and the other staff are ready for a break, in fairness, it's been a long season."
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