Hugo Keenan hoping for happier Cardiff return with Ireland

There are few rugby arenas quite like the Principality Stadium in Cardiff when it's at full volume, and Hugo Keenan is expecting it to be as loud as ever this Saturday in the opening round of the Guinness Six Nations.

Keenan has played in Cardiff before with Ireland, but his seventh cap took place with a silent backdrop, with the Six Nations still deep in Covid-19 restrictions in February 2021.

The Ireland full-back has witnessed the ground at its heaving best, although he's hoping for a different result this time around.

"I was at the Ireland-Argentina game at the World Cup [in 2015], unfortunately, and the night before that at the France-New Zealand game," Keenan told RTÉ Sport.

The Leinster man was just 19 years old at the time and still five years away from an Irish Test debut, which at the time he was wasn't even on his radar.

"Definitely not. I think I was in the sub academy, playing with UCD, not even Irish U20s at that stage, it was a long time away in my mind."

Keenan made his debut at the end of the delayed 2020 championship, having bolted into contention when rugby resumed following the Covid-19 lockdown, and quickly became one of Andy Farrell's most trusted players, playing 25 times out of a possible 27, all of those starts.

And the 26-year-old says he's seen a continuous development in Ireland under Farrell in two and a half years since his first cap.

"We've been coming together nicely, building a lot of experience. When I first came in it was also the first time the likes of Caelan [Doris], Rónan Kelleher and a new batch of lads were coming in with new coaches as well, so we've learned a lot through a lot of ups and downs along the way.

"We're a pretty close group, and it's such a competitive one as well with new