After a stunning debut year on the frontline for Ireland and Leinster, Jordan Larmour admits that the battle to reestablish himself in the pecking order is "tough".

Bursting on to the scene under Joe Schmidt, Larmour's pace and ability to evade tackles marked him out as special.

Now 24, the Dubliner made his international debut in the successful 2018 Six Nations and made nine appearances in that year, featuring in wins over Australia and New Zealand.

Larmour celebrates the Grand Slam win in Twickenham in 2018

That season he started in both the Champions Cup and Pro14 final wins over Racing 92 and Scarlets respectively.

Larmour accrued 30 caps in the meantime but his most recent involvement with Andy Farrell's Ireland came in last summer's Test against Japan, and even after recovering from a hip injury and starring in the URC win over Munster, was unable to force his way back into the match-day 23 for the Champions Cup final against La Rochelle.

Various injuries and the form of his rivals have meant Larmour has had to get the head down and work his way back up the order.

"Professional sport is hard, everyone wants to play at the top level," he told RTÉ Sport two days after helping himself to a brace in the 76-14 thrashing of Glasgow.

"That's why the competition is so hard and it's important that we have that competition to drive each other forward.

"It's been tough. At the start of the season I got a few injuries and then a run of games, picked up another injury so it's been a stop-start season for me.

"That's why I'm trying to train well and bring that into games.

"It's tough, especially at the top end when everybody wants to put up their hand and everyone wants to be playing those big games.

"There is a lot of competition but I think that's important in terms of self-growth as well."

James Lowe and Mack Hansen have worked their way into Andy Farrell's squad

The emergence and form of Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Mack Hansen, Mike Lowry and Robert Baloucoune has given Farrell plenty of options across the back three, while Andrew Conway's continued excellence see the Munster man start when fit.

Having not been involved in the last nine international games, and with a five-game series of New Zealand to come in the summer, Larmour has work to do.

"That would be nice but at the moment my sole focus is on trying to play well for Leinster, put my hand up and get selected.

"I was happy enough with how the Munster game went and happy again with the Glasgow game. For me it's about backing up good performances, train well, play well. That's all I can control."

The former St Andrew's College pupil will hope to make his 74th Leinster appearance on Friday night against the Vodacom Bulls in the URC semi-final (RDS, 7.35pm).

Having earned the man of the match award from full-back against Munster and from the right wing against Glasgow, Larmour was asked how much input he has in those positional calls.

"Emm, not much, to be honest," he said. "Leo [Cullen] will come to you at the start of the week and tell you are you are playing so that's really how the conversation goes.

"I'm happy to play anywhere, I just want to be out there, playing with all the lads, that's what's most important to me."

Follow Leinster v Bulls (Friday 7.35pm) and Stormers v Ulster (Saturday 2pm) via our live blogs on rte.ie/sport or on the RTÉ News app. Watch Stormers v Ulster live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.

Listen to live commentary of Leinster v Bulls on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra and updates from Stormers v Ulster on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.

Watch highlights of this weekend's URC games on Against the Head, Monday, 8pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.