Jack Crowley has started the season like a man on a mission but dismisses any suggestion that establishing himself as Ireland's chosen number 10 has anything to do with it.
The Munster out-half started every game of the winning Six Nations campaign in 2024 but was relegated to the bench for all but one game of the championship last spring, with Leinster’s Sam Prendergast preferred for the opening four matches.
The pair split starts on the two-Test summer tour against Georgia and Portugal and head coach Andy Farrell, who was away with the Lions, has a very welcome selection headache for the upcoming international window.
Ireland face New Zealand in Chicago on 1 November before hosting Japan, Australia and South Africa at the Aviva Stadium.
On the domestic front, Crowley started Munster’s first game against Scarlets on the bench but arrived just after half-time to assist two tries and convert three in a 34-21 win.
The 25-year-old was player of the match and scored a conversion, a penalty and a crucial late drop goal to see the province over the line against a dogged Cardiff outfit in Limerick last Saturday.
Asked about his determination to regain the starting jersey for Ireland and his solid start to the season, Crowley (above) said doesn't think in those terms.
"If I'm being brutally honest, I don't think it would be respectful to the group for that to be a driving factor for me," he told RTÉ Sport.
"I don't think it would be fair to the rest of the lads, and also my main focus is how I can best prepare the team and myself for the opponent that's coming up in the week.
"This week now it's Edinburgh, how we can best prepare for that and how we can get the best out of ourselves, how I can get the best out of myself.
"And if we start looking down the line, then that's where we won't be able to deliver in performances.
"I don't think it would be, for me anyway, placing my energy in the right areas."
Crowley, who stands 6 foot 1, and weighs 14 stone, wouldn't say that he feels as good as ever but admits that maintaining his fitness is a goal.
"I guess you're always trying to improve in preparation and getting your body to a point where it's more physically capable," he said.
"And you learn things as you go on in your career, you pick up things from other players and probably in the past I might not have put as much emphasis into my pre-season and my physical conditioning and that, it would have been around the skills area and just understanding how important that is.
"But also just getting my body into the right place where I can be physically able in games and to be able to go a long season and to be able to deliver in the business end of the season as well when it comes to important knockout games.
"You want to be full of fitness energy-wise and you want to be able to give your best in every game. So just looking at ways that I can be better for longer.
"And also then I thought pre-season here was great the way that they ran it, the coaching staff and everybody felt that they got a good body work in and yeah, let's see what comes of it."
The comparisons between Crowley and 22-year-old Prendergast won’t stop anytime soon and even last weekend the endgames of their respective fixtures stood in contrast.
The Leinster out-half missed a drop goal attempt and a penalty and threw an interception pass that saw Leo Cullen’s men miss out on a losing bonus point against the Bulls in Pretoria.
Crowley, meanwhile, calmly slotted a late drop goal (above) to make their contest a two-score game with three minutes to play – a cushion that proved vital with Cardiff scoring a late try.
However, dramatic as the finale was, Crowley would prefer a smoother sail.
"I don't know, I'd probably find it more satisfying, I think we all would as a team here, to go out and perform to the plan that we had hoped to," said the Cork man, who has scored 153 points in 26 Ireland appearances.
"To be fair to Cardiff, I thought that they were unbelievably physical, put us under a lot of pressure and probably didn't allow us to play exactly the way we wanted to.
"And then ultimately it led us to a bit more of a scrappy game and we got there in the end. But I think there's definitely more satisfying performances hopefully to come."
On the drop goal, he added: "We kind of got to a situation where we were playing off slow ball, so reviewing that, probably looking at how we can be a little bit better and play with a little bit more tempo and get a little bit more flow in our attack, particularly in that passage of play.
"But yeah, it wasn't really anything we discussed.
"It was just a scenario that came about and we took it and we were able to fight another day, I guess."
Edinburgh at Musgrave Park provide Munster’s next opposition on Friday night with the Scottish outfit coming off the back of an unplanned weekend off following the postponement of their clash against Ulster due to Storm Amy.
"They're probably going to be gunning to get their season going, particularly after their defeat to Zebre [in round one]," he said.
"I know that they probably wanted to right a few things that they felt in that game that might have got them across the line, and Friday was probably an opportunity for that, and then that got postponed.
"So their energy and focus is probably massively towards this game on Friday night.
"So it's a similar situation this time and I'm sure that they will be guns blazing on Friday night."
