All going well Joey Carbery will sit back and enjoy watching Johnny Sexton lead Ireland to a comfortable victory over France this afternoon in NatWest 6 Nations Championship.
But if the starting out-half needs a break, as has often happened, Carbery won’t look out of place standing in at 10, or 15 for that matter.
Even as the academies continue to produce the talent in assembly-line fashion, the New Zealander’s rise through the ranks has been remarkable.
In 2015 he starred for Clontarf on their way to an AIL title win, in 2016 he made his Ireland debut in the historic win over the All Blacks in Chicago.
Things didn’t go perfectly during the summer tour game against the USA but when the autumn rolled around, the Leinster back got another shot and impressed against South Africa and Fiji before a heavy tackle resulted in an arm broken in three places.
A quick recovery followed and Joe Schmidt had no hesitation in picking him as back-up ahead of the in-form Ian Keatley.
The 22-year-old says that the training regime that Schmidt oversees is the reason why he has made the step up to this level appear so natural.
"You always think the step up to international rugby is going to be really tough," the six-times capped Athy man tells RTÉ Sport.
"But to come into a training environment in Carton House with Joe and it’s almost like match-intensity so you do have to pick [the pace] up quite quickly
"Everyone is making the step up, you see [21-year-old lock] James Ryan making the step up as well.
"The more training you do at that level, the more it becomes a bit more natural so those training session are a big help."
Such is the nature of today’s game that it’s unlikely that Carbery will sit on the bench for the full 80 but it’s clear he’s another man making his Six Nations bow that Schmidt won’t fret about.
Follow our live blog of France v Ireland (4.45pm kick-off) on RTÉ Online and the RTÉ News Now App, or listen to commentary from Michael Corcoran and Donal Lenihan on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.
