It's not easy breaking into the Ireland team and more so when the incumbent is one of the world’s best players.
Stuart McCloskey, by his own admission, can only play at first centre and usually standing in his way is Bundee Aki, a World Rugby player of the year nominee and Lions Test match starter.
The Kiwi native was Ireland’s best player at the World Cup and recognised by his peers with the players’ player of the year award last month.
Ruled out of Ireland's win over Italy with what Andy Farrell called a "rumbling knee" injury, Aki’s absence, and that of regular outside centre Garry Ringrose, opened the door for the Ulster back to impress.
The 31-year-old rekindled his partnership with Robbie Henshaw, also a Lions Test player. The duo started against Samoa in a World Cup warm-up last summer with mixed results as Ireland scrapped over the line in Bayonne.
McCloskey revealed that Farrell had called him aside last week for a chat in an effort to "get me fired up".
Whatever the boss said worked.
Winning his 16th cap, McCloskey played the full match, making 18 carries, got three offloads away, and had two try assists.
"I don't think that [Samoa] game was probably a fair reflection, it's the one before we go to the World Cup and it was an absolute monsoon there," he told reporters after Ireland’s 36-0 win over the Azzurri.
"[Andy] mentioned it to me during the week, as kind of like a challenge to us [Robbie and I] I think.
"We took that on board and I think we worked really hard together this week to try to get a bit of synergy, I suppose, between us and get on the same page.
"I think that extra bit of work helped us in the end and I think testament to Andy for probably bringing it up to make sure that we got over our stuff than probably we were going to.
"I think he knows me well enough by now. I'm pretty chilled about most things. I think he's probably trying to get me fired up more than anything. It worked well with me.
"I don't know what he said to Robbie but Robbie's come back with the same sort of feedback. We just sort of worked hard from Wednesday onwards and getting over our stuff. It's no different to training but it's just more video stuff.
"You're thinking different things. 'What did he say? Does he think I'm not working hard enough?' But then you get over that, and I think Andy always just wants the guys to be at their best.
"And for all of us to be at our best, we probably need to get over bits and pieces, how we work together as a team. Just everything, how we run off each other and everything. It seemed to work well today, anyway."
After winning his first cap in 2016, he fell out of favour under Joe Schmidt but has worked hard to convince Farrell of his worth.
He added: "It probably took me until I was 28, 29 to realise it's not about me either.
"I'd have loved to have got a better crack at the whip when I was 23 with Joe here but obviously we didn't see eye to eye and my face probably didn't fit.
"It was probably a bit on me as well, it's not all on him, but thankfully Faz brought me back in and I got my opportunity through playing well provincially and guys getting niggles here and there, and showing that I can achieve at this level.
"Like it takes you a while to get over your own ego, doesn't it?
"You're 23 and playing well for your province and not getting picked at international level and you think it's the coach's fault, there's probably a bit of that in there.
"I don't think it was all me now, it was probably less me, but, listen, it's not the end of the world.
"I'm pretty happy with where I am now and really happy with the opportunities I've been given over the last two or three years and with how good Andy has been to me."
Meanwhile, Farrell said yesterday that he expected Aki, Ringrose, Peter O’Mahony and Tadhg Furlong to train later this week and be available for Saturday week’s round-three clash with Wales in Dublin.
Watch a URC double-header, Leinster v Benetton (3pm) and Cardiff v Connacht (5.15pm) on Saturday from 2.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
Follow the RTÉ Sport WhatsApp channel for the best news, interviews, analysis and features, as well as details of our sports coverage across all RTÉ platforms.
