While the Guinness Six Nations and the Principality Stadium in Cardiff will be commanding the attention of the Irish rugby public today, Ashton Gate in Bristol on Sunday has an off-Broadway feel to it.
For those involved in Ireland's A meeting with England A tomorrow afternoon (1pm), it’s just as important as any international.
There’s always a fascinating narrative to an 'A’ international. The squad assembled by Munster attack coach Mike Prendergast this weekend has an interesting blend of inexperienced prospects who are looking to catch the eye, supplemented by a handful of full internationals who are doing everything they can to get back to the inner circle of the Irish rugby high performance centre.
Captain Max Deegan is part of the latter group. The 28-year-old has won two senior Ireland caps, the first in round two of the 2020 Six Nations against Wales, but an ACL injury a few months later saw him lose ground in the back row depth chart, and it would be November 2022 against Fiji when he would add to his international appearances.
For players like Deegan, this week is an opportunity, and he’s taken advantage of that opportunity before.
In September 2022, he captained Emerging Ireland for two of their tour matches in South Africa, which in turn led to a recall to the senior team.
And with Ireland likely to have a large contingent on this summer’s British and Irish Lions tour to Australia, the back row knows a big performance in Bristol today will go a long way towards getting another cap this summer, when Ireland take on Georgia and Portugal.
"It does feel great to be back in. Its been about two years since I was here," Deegan (above) said.
"I feel like everyone wants to leave an impression in the coach’s head so when they are looking at the squads and the team at the end of the season it will be ‘Jeez, he had a great week the last time he was in here’.
"Everyone is gunning for the same setup, to be in the Ireland setup and play for Ireland. It’s a massive opportunity for us."
The Leinster man is one of several back row forwards around the country who have had to deal with an embarrassment of riches at flanker and number eight, although Deegan has also been caught in that logjam at his province.
"I guess that's just the nature of Irish rugby. And I feel like, you know, you can either let it break you and you can give up, or you can just keep working hard, keep digging in when selection doesn't go your way.
"Just keep training hard, keep working hard, and eventually, hopefully, you'll come through it as a better person, a stronger character, and get your opportunities and take them.
"Because that's the thing, with so much competition, you're not going to get opportunities all the time, so when you do get them, you need to grab both hands and really take them. So that's kind of my focus going into this week. Really big opportunity. And I'm sure the other players are doing the same thing.
"Being in the Irish system, showing them what you can do in the system that they play with, I think that's a big opportunity."
The danger this week is that with so many players looking to grab the attention of the Irish management, they fail to gel as a team.
While Leinster dominate the Ireland senior team, the A side named by Prendergast is evenly spread between the provinces, with five Connacht players in the starting 15, along with four from Munster and three each from Leinster and Ulster.
And Deegan says players are acutely aware that the best way to impress is to do so as a group.
"That’s going to be one of the biggest components to this game and something we have really focused on at the start of the week: first making sure we are comfortable with each other’s names and then knowing how each other plays because we’re not used to playing with each other and you only have one week. Every bit of work you do can add to the outcome.
"It’s something Sean O’Brien spoke about. We’re there to make each other look better. If everyone has the same idea about how to do that then we will all look better out there on the pitch.
"If people go out doing individual things, no-one is going to look good and we’ll all struggle in the game. It’s all about making the guy beside you look good," he added.
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