No player in a Joe Schmidt squad lacks for motivation, but few Ireland players can be looking forward to tackling the Italians in Rome as much as Ultan Dillane.
Along with Dave Kilcoyne and Seán Cronin, he is making his first Six Nations start and given his explosive introduction at Twickenham three years ago, few at the time would have thought it would take this long to reach Sunday's milestone.
A combination of factors have halted his progress in green. Injuries, increased competition and a dip in form at various stages haven't helped, but matters away from the pitch have also impacted the 25-year-old.
Twelve months ago when the sides met in Dublin, Ireland wore black armbands in memory of Ellen Dillane, Ultan's mother. As is the case with death, perspective is sharpened and rugby perhaps didn't feel quite so important.
The lock played no part in the Grand Slam campaign. While he wasn't happy at start of the season - he felt his form wasn't where it could be - that didn't compare to the last campaign.
"If I struggled, it would have been more last season," he told RTÉ Sport. "It would have been a lot closer to everything.
"Pre-season was quite good. You always get that motivation through training during the summer.
"It's more about taking your break when it comes. Summer break was good to switch off for a while. It's important to take breaks, especially on the back of a tough year.
"If I'm given a few days off, I go home and relax."
Since the trip to Italy two years ago, Dillane had featured just once before the recent win over Scotland when he started against Fiji in November 2017.
Thirteen minutes was his lot against Scotland, but making the bench, notwithstanding the injury list, was an achievement in itself. The bonus was he made an impression, and backed it up a week later with an eye-catching display against the Cheetahs on Pro14 duty with Connacht.
"He came on [at Murrayfield] in a pressure cooker," Schmidt said at today's team announcement. "We were only up by six points and I think there were three outstanding actions from him that were really pivotal for us.
"So we're looking to him to provide a little bit more of that. It gave us real confidence when he goes back to Connacht, last weekend he gets man-of-the-match and his volume of effort was really good."
As well as he has played this term, injuries he insists have played their part. Iain Henderson is back among the replacements, James Ryan is rested while Devin Toner and Tadhg Beirne are still sidelined.
The all-Connacht Irish second row for Sunday boasts just 22 caps between them. When Dillane made his debut in 2016, Quinn Roux was in his first season at the Sportsground and not yet to be called into the Irish squad.
At the Stadio Olimpico, the South African born lock will call the line-out and his provincial team-mate says he showed against Scotland what he is is capable of. It may not be flash, but as his stats showed - most tackles and most rucks hit - it was effective.
"He did well [in Murrayfield]. He's looking to grow from that again. Even in training, he has that confidence within him and everyone is backing him," said Dillane.
Chances to impress in the second row need to taken with both hands such are the options available to Schmidt, but Dillane says the calibre of players competing for starts is having a positive impact.
He noted: "I love how the competition is now. It's nice that I can't expect to be up there. They are real quality players. It is such a motivator to play well in my own province. That's the biggest driver."
