Connacht flanker Conor Oliver says making the international breakthrough remains his big goal, after an excellent start to the season.
The 26-year-old has enjoyed career-best form in recent months, playing all but one game so far this season for Andy Friend's side.
His performances in the Interpro wins against both Munster and Ulster in the URC have drawn particular praise, while he's made the number seven shirt his own this season, forming an excellent partnership with Cian Prendergast and Jarrad Butler in the province's first choice backline.
It's led to calls for him to be an outside contender for a place in the Ireland squad in the Six Nations, or possibly the summer tour of New Zealand.
And the Skerries native has made no secret of his ambition of pulling on another green jersey, although he's yet to formally arrive on Andy Farrell's radar.
"Nothing yet," he said, when asked if he'd heard from the Ireland coach in recent months.
"But that's always been the ambition from playing rugby as young lad.
"That has always been the goal but I’m keeping my head down, just kind of keep playing as well as I can and whatever happens with that type of stuff.
"I'm really happy playing with Connacht, I'm really happy at Connacht and that’s all I’m trying to focus on now and keep putting in performances for the team."
Along with Sammy Arnold and Alex Wootton, Oliver joined Connacht in the summer of 2020 having found opportunities limited at Munster.
And while he featured 18 times across his first season - 15 of those being starts - he admits to not being truly happy with his form.
By his own admission, Andy Friend's fast-paced style of rugby took some getting used to, having come from a more regimented gameplan at Munster, but he says he's finally feeling comfortable in the chaos of Connacht's all-action approach.
"I'm loving it at the moment, that’s why I’m performing," he adds.
"When anyone enjoys something, you’re going to perform better. I like to play, it suits me.
"Maybe last season I maybe wasn't performing to the level I knew I could or wanted to. I feel I’m here long enough that I’m understanding the way we want to play rugby and I’m fitting in well into that brand.
"I feel as if I've been more sure of my role in the team. It suits the way I like to play.
"I like to play a brand of running rugby as well, I enjoy it a lot and getting my hands on the ball and getting to carry it. I think most people would say that’s more enjoyable. I’m pretty happy with it."
He also attributes some of his improvement this season to work off the pitch, and becoming more conscious of preparing for his rugby mentally as well as physically.
He credits the province's performance skills coach Jack Birtwhistle with helping him appreciate the importance of his mental approach.
"Maybe about mental preparation for me has been something that I have worked on a lot more this season, keeping a small training journal and stuff like that.
"I feel that's one thing that could help confidence going into games and kind of reassurance that you are ready to play that match. So that’s one thing.
"I found that's maybe something that I had lacked or didn't really pay enough attention to, maybe, last season and in previous ones.
"The way it works for me is I have a checklist of things I want to get done during the week that are going to have me ready for the weekend because they're extra things like tackles, extra carries, stuff like that.
"We have great coaches here who stay after the session and they set up different drills, and whatever you need to get done you can get done.
"So for me, say I have five things that I need to get done during the week on top of team training, if I have that checklist checked off I know for a fact that I am ready to play on the weekend, that I have done everything during the week to prepare me to play."
Oliver will likely occupy the number seven shirt again this Saturday when the Leicester Tigers rock up in Galway for their Heineken Champions Cup pool meeting, looking to bounce back after their first defeat of the season last week.
"We are expecting a big performance out of them coming over here. Every team that loses an unbeaten run is going to want to regain it back, you know, so we know what we are expecting and we will be ready."
The Tigers fell to a 16-13 defeat to Wasps, ending a 15-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
Oliver is unsure how much to read into that slip-up, wondering if it gives the Tigers some extra bite, or if it just makes them a bit more fallible.
"I think a bit of both to be honest," he wonders.
"I watched the game at the weekend, it probably wasn't the prettiest wins but it showed that they are vulnerable in parts of their game.
"We are expecting a big performance out of them coming over here. Every team that loses an unbeaten run is going to want to regain it back, you know, so we know what we are expecting and we will be ready.
For large parts of their earlier Pool B meeting in December, it looked like Connacht would be the team to inflict a first loss of the season on Steve Borthwick's side, before they ultimately fell to a 29-23 loss.
However, Oliver is relishing a second go at the Premiership leaders, this time on home turf.
"We know what’s coming," he adds.
"We feel like we should have won that game and felt like we weren’t at our best over there.
"We’re confident going into this weekend that we can win this game. We feel we have the right gameplan, and we know what’s coming and we’ll welcome it with open arms.
