Rónan Kelleher believes Ireland are proving they have the strength in depth to compete at the highest level after their perfect start to this season's Guinness Six Nations championship.
Andy Farrell's side followed their bonus point 34-10 win against Wales a week ago with another four-try victory against France, running out 32-19 winners against the defending champions at the Aviva Stadium.
Despite being named on the bench, Kelleher played 55 minutes having been introduced in the first half when Rob Herring suffered a head injury, in a tackle which saw France tighthead Uini Atonio sin-binned.
It's almost a year to the day since Kelleher's last Test cap, having been luckless with injuries over the last 12 months.
After missing the latter stages of last season's Six Nations due to a shoulder injury, he then picked up knocks at just the wrong time to miss out on the summer tour of New Zealand and the Autumn Nations Series.
And after a hamstring injury saw him ruled out of last week's win in Cardiff, he made his long-awaited return to an Irish shirt at the Aviva Stadium, logging 11 tackles and seven carries in an industrious display.
"I's a remarkable environment to come back into and having been out for some time, it makes it all the sweeter to get back out there and play again," he said after the game.
"I'm delighted with how it went."
James Ryan forces a turnover but Rónan Kelleher is held up as France breathe a sigh of relief. #SixNations #IREvFRA
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While Kelleher has recovered from that hamstring injury, Ireland have been dealing with a number of key absentees in these opening two games, with Tadhg Furlong, Robbie Henshaw, Jamison Gibson-Park and Cian Healy all missing the opening rounds, while Dan Sheehan joined that injury list in recent days.
Despite the lack of continuity in selection, it hasn't affected Ireland's performances, and in both wins so far the bench have made a significant impact.
Kelleher says it speaks volumes for the depth in the squad right now.
"The competition is great, there is no step down from first to second or third choice.
"It is a competitive bunch, we're constantly pushing each other to get better. If you don’t make the standard you won’t be there. That’s pushing us forward all the time.
"Yeah, it's very important. That’s what makes a team, trusting each other and we are building that in spades over the last three or four years. The standard is so high and that builds the trust.
"It was very quick, a lot of us were blowing. But that is where we feed off each other's energy, mostly it was good but sometimes we slipped off that standard," he added.
The win is a first over France since 2019, and crucially it's also a first win against Les Bleus in this World Cup cycle, with Fabien Galthie's side having overpowered Ireland in their recent meetings.
And while some consider it to be a significant marker laid down by Ireland, Kelleher says they'll treat it like any other victory.
"It wouldn’t be as big for us as people outside make it.
"We had chances to win the games in the past. Certain things we didn’t get right in those games. Even though we have lots of learnings, enough stuff went right for us today to get the win."
