Evan O'Connell may have had an obvious role model in his youth but it’s the new senior Ireland captain that the U20s skipper most looked up to.
O’Connell is the nephew of former Munster, Ireland and Lions captain Paul and witnessed at close range as the lock, over the course of a 14-year career, helped his province to two Heineken Cup titles, his country to three Six Nations championships and the Lions to a Test series win.
But he’s quick to point to another man, Peter O’Mahony, who thread the same path as O’Connell, now the forwards coach with Andy Farrell’s squad.
"My favourite player growing up was probably Peter O’Mahony, to be honest," O’Connell told RTÉ Sport.
"A great leader, a great player, I’m extremely lucky I get a chance to train with him at the moment [with Munster].
"It’s incredible to learn off a fella like who has experienced it all and is one of the best players in the world.
"Yeah 100% [he is approachable], he is very kind and actually wants people to come to him. So he's very good in that regard."
O’Connell (above) is one of four players who featured last season for Richie Murphy's side as they won the Grand Slam and reached the final of the U20 World Championship.
He feels his experience will be useful as they bid to defend their crown.
"I captained my Junior and Senior Cup sides in Castletroy, and just last year I captained the Irish U19s in two [games] in France," says the Limerick man, who plays his club rugby with UL Bohs.
"Just being able to manage and deal with players. I’d like to think I’d be very approachable as a captain and a fella who you can lean on. I wouldn't have learned that without those experiences before.
"I'm able to express myself if I am happy or not happy with something. I feel like I can motivate my players and motivate them by playing well as well."
Ireland begin their campaign against France on Saturday night. It was a powerful French outfit who beat Ireland in the World Championship final in South Africa last summer.
On facing physically larger teams, O’Connell added: "There are always going to be bigger teams than us but I feel like we have always been very good in our playing style and the way we can conduct ourselves on and off the pitch.
"We use our smarts as well to combat against those good teams."
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