Andrew Conway keen to avoid complacency despite retaining starting spot for Ireland

Andrew Conway says it's a great boost to have held onto his place on the Ireland team after earning his first Guinness Six Nations start last week.

The Munster wing, who has won 19 caps since making his debut in 2017, has seen off stiff competition within the squad after a solid showing in a nervy 19-12 win over Scotland.

The 28-year-old said: "There is crazy competition. Keith Earls is obviously coming back from a knee injury, Dave Kearney is ripping the place up for Leinster and then lads who aren't even in the squad who are brilliant players.

"I'm definitely happy, but you can't be too happy just to be starting, you want to be excelling when you are starting, you want to be one of the best players on the pitch consistently and that's what I'm aiming to do.

"It's great to have the opportunity."

We need your consent to load this SoundCloud contentWe use SoundCloud to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

New head coach Andy Farrell has taken the decision to announce his starting team on a Tuesday, a notably different approach to his predecessor Joe Schmidt, who preferred to keep his cards closer to his chest by revealing his XV as late as possible.

Asked about the new timeline, Conway, who scored three tries in three World Cup games, said: "I definitely prefer it, it gives clarity to everyone.

"It makes conversations easier around linking up with guys, like me linking up with Robbie [Henshaw].

"We are having conversations from Monday on as opposed to Tuesday, sometimes even a Thursday so I think it's a definite benefit to have as much clarity as possible."

Follow Ireland v Wales (kick-off 2.15pm) on Saturday via our live blog on RTE.ie/Sport and the News Now app or listen live on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport. Highlights on Against the Head, Monday at 8pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.