Hugo Keenan is in no mood to give up his run in the Ireland side for the next Six Nations clash with Italy.
Keenan has been a starting ever-present since he was first capped by Andy Farrell against the re-scheduled championship meeting with the Azzurri in October 2020.
That was 18 Test matches ago and such has been the form and consistency of the 25-year-old, his selection and form has been one of the major pluses of Farrell's reign to date.
The Leinster player has been the safe pair of hands - and more - that Farrell needed in the wake of Rob Kearney's Ireland career coming to an end.
Given the dismal record of the Italians in the Six Nations, the logical move looks to be handing Ulster's Mike Lowry a Test debut on Sunday week or moving Mack Hansen to full-back for a look at the flying Connacht man there.
Nevertheless Keenan doesn't want to miss a moment in the green jersey.
"Yeah, if he was to come to me and say something, I suppose you'd naturally still be disappointed," said the Dubliner.
"You always want to play. You always want to keep your hand in the team and be involved and keep playing for your country.
"There's always going to be competition. There's always going to be people knocking on the door - and there is at the moment - so listen, if that happens it is what it is.
"But I'm hoping to go again. I'm feeling good, we're back into camp tomorrow and looking forward to it.
"We'll get a review going, there's plenty to learn and lessons to take from it so I'm looking forward to it now."
Keenan clearly doesn't like to switch off and judging by how chose to relax after Ireland's Stade de France disappointment, he's a bit of a glutton for punishment.
When he returned home, Keenan finished off watching Dopesick - Disney's raw portrayal of the opioid crisis in the United States.
He also took in the Champions League clash between PSG-Real Madrid with his dad.
"It was the feeling for the week that's in it," laughed the Ireland full-back.
But to cap it all, before heading back into Ireland's two-day mini-camp at Abbotstown yesterday, he twice watched back the six point loss to France twice.
“It’s tough, I’m not going to lie," said Keenan. "You just sort of have to review it, I’ve watched it back twice.
"If you don’t take these learnings and these experiences, how are you going to get better? How are you going to beat them the next time?
"That’s the beauty about losing, there is so much to learn from it. Hopefully it won’t happen much.
"I was pretty gutted after the game, for many reasons - how it finished, we felt that there was more in us and that didn't play to our potential, and we got so close and it was a bit frustrating
"So it was a bit of a bleak changing room after, I'm not going to lie, and it's been a tough couple of days.
"Sometimes you don't want the break, you just want to get straight into camp, you want to review it and get it over and done with so that you can take the learnings and feedback and move on.
"You try to switch off for the couple of days, try to recover and relax so you’re not feeling too sorry for yourself - so you can bring the best version of yourself back into camp.
"That's because we can’t afford to waste these two days there, two important ones. We’ve got to come in ready to learn and ready to go again.
"That's probably the exciting bit now, we were only three points away from beating the French who are probably the form side in world rugby at the moment and I don't think we played to our potential.
"And personally I feel I have more in me as well."
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Irish rugby stars Hugo Keenan and Stacey Flood have been unveiled as Energia’s new rugby ambassadors and will represent their multiple rugby partnerships from grassroots right through to the international stage. This season Energia is helping fans play their part and learn about how to be more sustainable and environmentally conscious through its Ireland’s Greenest Fan campaign.
