'I think it's an inspiration' - Tadhg Furlong hoping to do 'our people' proud as captain

"Wait until you see the team sheet and you'll know why I'm captain," Tadhg Furlong laughed.

Ireland's latest skipper joked that it was simple process of elimination that will see become the 25th man to captain the country since the turn of professionalism in 1995, when he leads the side out for this Saturday's game against Fiji at the Aviva Stadium.

A look through those that have captained Ireland - whether for a day or a decade - naturally throws together some of the very best who have ever played for the country.

For the most part, too, they've come from similar backgrounds; men from the major rugby schools around the country, a natural byproduct of that system supplying the bulk of Ireland's professional rugby players.

Before Furlong, Mick Galwey and Sean O'Brien were the outliers.

The Wexford native admits he hasn't given much thought to the significance of it, when it was put to him that an Irish captain from a non-traditional rugby background could have a ripple effect on the smaller clubs in the country.

"Maybe it's something you reflect on after the game, but I can understand it, I can understand it," he said.

"For the youth clubs, the junior clubs around the Leinster, around Ireland - because New Ross is very much one of them - and they can produce a player to go on and play for Ireland or captain Ireland.

"It's not me being inspirational for them, but I think it's an inspiration for the clubs in general.

"I can understand because I was one of them. I was one of them. Shane Horgan would have come through, Seanie [O'Brien] comes through, I immediately identify with those people because they're from a similar background. John Hayes the same. It's easy to identify.

"We're lucky now that there's so much more of us coming