Munster prop Oli Jager admits his call-up to the wider Ireland squad has come a lot earlier than he expected.
The tighthead was named alongside his Munster teammate Tom Ahern and Leinster's Sam Prendergast as "training panellists" to supplement Andy Farrell's full 34-man squad, and will link up with the group when they begin their Six Nations preparations next week.
"It's an awesome feeling, a really, really cool feeling to have," the 28-year-old tells the RTÉ Rugby podcast.
Jager joined Munster at the start of December in a surprise move from the Crusaders.
The Kildare man had been in New Zealand since he was 18-years-old, where he progressed through the ranks of Canterbury and then the Crusaders, playing more than 50 games for the franchise and winning multiple Super Rugby titles.
And while he says playing for Ireland was a motivating role in his return, he admits he wasn't expecting to get an opportunity to impress the Irish coaches this soon.
"I was just coming home to play some rugby for Munster and focus on that side of things. I didn't expect anything like this to happen this early, if at all.
"I'm just stoked to be part of it, and really looking forward to it.
"No, I think I just came home and pretty much got settled in myself. I've only been in Limerick for about a month and a half, so I haven't been here too long. I’m still finding my feet in some ways."
While Jager had been on the radar of Munster previously, the move did come as a surprise when it was first reported in late November.
Having been first choice tighthead in the past two seasons for the Crusaders, it looked more likely that Jager would be playing Test rugby for New Zealand rather than Ireland. Speaking to RTÉ at the start of 2022, Jager had his sights set on playing Test rugby for his adopted country, and although he'd been previously called up for the non-cap All Blacks XV in 2022 and 2023, a combination of injury and circumstances meant he never featured for the New Zealand development side.
"The whole Covid thing made a big change in it. I wasn't able to get home or be in Ireland for nearly four years, and of course you'd be away for so long.
"I lived outside of Ireland for over 10 years before I came home, and you miss things. You miss weddings, funerals, parties, family events, and then also just that I hadn't seen my family in a long, long time.
"It just started getting to the point where homesickness grew. I was trying to fight it off, pretend it wasn't anything, but it always prevails. It comes through in the end.
"It just came to the point where I wanted to be back close to my roots," he added.
He had turned down approaches to come home in the past, but this time it was Jager who made the first move. Several months ago he "put the feelers out" to see if there would be an opportunity to move to Ireland, and Munster took him up on the offer.
He had originally signed on for next season, but in November the province gave him the chance to expedite the move.
"I was all packed up and gone within six or seven days. It was a quick, rushed move, but as soon as I could go home, the better I was.
"I just wanted to be back in Ireland, close to family. It all happened quickly. I'm still trying to figure out how it happened myself."
It helped that there was a good relationship between Munster and the Crusaders; the New Zealand side are now coached by former boss Rob Penney, while the sides will meet in an exhibition game at a sold-out Páirc Uí Chaoimh on 2 February.
"One thing the Crusaders are really good at is looking after the player, rather than just the team. Whatever is best for that individual, they go out of their way to make sure that's what they get. It’s always been a family-oriented place to play, everyone looks after each other. And they do the exact same thing here [at Munster].
"They were fantastic with the move, they were fully supportive of it, they understood the reasons why I wanted to come home and backed me the whole way. I can’t give them enough credit for helping me get to where I am today," he added.
It's unclear whether or not Jager will be available to face his former side in Cork in just over two weeks, given his involvement with the extended Ireland squad.
Before that, he's hopeful of returning for Munster in this Saturday's Investec Champions Cup pool 4 game against the Northampton Saints, having missed the last two games with a concussion, which he picked up in a worrying incident against Connacht on New Year's Day.
Jager was carried off in a neck brace (above) just over 10 minutes into the contest, but says thankfully the brace and medical cart was just precautionary, and he's on track to get back playing soon.
"Everything's going according to plan. I’m much better than I was a couple of weeks ago, I can say that for certain.
"Obviously, not the best way to start to the New Year, but I think with those precautions they did, going off on the stretcher, that’s all just precautionary with a head knock like that and you do go out for a wee bit. You'd rather be too careful than not careful at all.
"I was walking when I got back into the changing sheds, so that was fine, but the last couple of weeks have been much better, and I’ve been slowly making my way back into training. We’ll see how we go."
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch Munster v Northampton in the Champions Cup on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 4.45pm this Saturday, follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app or listen live on RTÉ Radio 1.
