'Exceptional' Keenan excelling under pressure

Hugo Keenan has benefited from pressure on his place and it's showing in his performances, says Ireland attack coach Mike Catt.

The Leinster full-back has made the Ireland 15 shirt his own over the last two years, earning 19 caps since his debut in late 2020.

The 25-year-old filled the void left by Rob Kearney and was seen as a dependable, solid defender with good positional sense.

With head coach Andy Farrell having tried out various back-up options like Jordan Larmour, Jacob Stockdale and others like Andrew Conway, Keith Earls also hovering, it was Ulster’s Michael Lowry who emerged as a contender with a two-try salvo off the bench on his international debut against Italy.

That appears to have stirred something within Keenan, who was unlucky not to get the official man of the match award in the 32-15 win over England.

His touchdown last week was his sixth try in green and he made 117 metres off 18 carries, breaking four tackles across a busy afternoon.

"The nice thing is Mikey Lowry has been playing exceptionally well for Ulster and all of a sudden, there's a bit of competition there, with Jacob [Stockdale] obviously not there because he's injured at the moment," said Catt when asked about Keenan’s form ahead of tomorrow's Guinness Six Nations game against Scotland (4.45pm).

"It's always nice to have that competition in the team and I think we've got that in the centres, the wings, the back three. What it does is really push individuals to go to another level.

"Hugo is an incredible professional, he understands the game, is curious about the game, what he wants to learn and how he wants to learn it.

"He has taken that challenge on and like we saw last week, he was exceptional."

James Lowe was another man impressed with his