Ulster's Iain Henderson wasn’t going to come off voluntarily as he got a rare 80 minutes under his belt against Cardiff last Friday.
Injuries and a Covid-enforced break have limited the lock’s game time with both club and country this season.
The 30-year-old has 66 Ireland caps but has just seen 22 minutes of Guinness Six Nations action, off the bench against France, this campaign.
Prior to last weekend’s run-out he had played just 102 minutes for Ulster over two games.
Captaining the side on a return from catching Covid-19, which ruled him out of the Italy game, Henderson showed no ill effects during the 48-12 win.
Lock Sam Carter, who came on a replacement at the Kingspan on Friday night told RTÉ Sport that his second row partner was keen to make an impact and show Ireland head coach Andy Farrell that he is ready to go if called upon.
"The way he was speaking to the team throughout the week, obviously as the captain, he was excited to come back and play for us because Ulster have been on the up recently," said the 16-cap Australia international.
"And he wanted to be a part of that forward pack, he wanted to lead the team, get out there and the first 80 minutes he’d played in a while.
"When I got out there he was still going strong. It’s great too see him back and hopefully see him in a green jersey at the weekend."
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Farrell preferred the partnership of Tadhg Beirne and James Ryan in the opening two games with Ryan Baird coming in instead of the injured Ryan for the Italy match.
Ulster assistant coach Dan Soper, who is helping to prepare the team for Saturday night's URC clash with Leinster in Belfast, said it hadn’t been pre-planned to leave him on for the duration.
"It was a sort of see how it goes and Hendy was tracking well and at half-time he was feeling pretty positive about keeping on going," he said.
"And as the second half unfolded he was keen to keep going.
"He wanted to get those minutes under his belt, we were more than happy to oblige and get 80 minutes out of him."
Ulster are looking to do the double over Leinster having beaten them in their RDS meeting last November.
"When you play Leinster you know it’s a step up," he added.
"They’ve been the standard setters for a number of years. When you play your nearest rival there is added jump in the step.
"We’ve taken confidence out of the result in the RDS but there’s such a lot of water under the bridge.
"There’ll be changes in the team, we’ll look back on it but more so we’re looking at our recent performances and how we can make some progress on some of the things we’ve been trying to work on.
"We are pretty used to these interpros being played at Christmas or when guys are on a bit of a break so we’re used to it maybe with neither team being at full strength.
"I don’t think it takes away from it. It’s first and second in the league and there’s a lot to play for.
"We certainly will be putting out a strong side."
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The New Zealander said they'll decide later in the week if any players who return from the international camp will be involved.
"We don't know so we’ll wait until the Irish side get settled and make a decision on their team, there may be some guys released," he said.
"We are prepping without them but also in the knowledge that there could be one or two that come in late in the week and we’ll welcome them with open arms if they are released.
"But we’d obviously like to see them all get an opportunity with the national side."
Follow all of Ireland's Six Nations games via our live blogs on rte.ie/sport and on the RTÉ News App or listen to live radio coverage on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch live coverage of England v Ireland on Saturday 12 March (4.45pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
