I've been dying to get back here - Shane Daly ready to take chance with Ireland A

With barely a minute left to play, and Munster 24-7 ahead against the Scarlets last Saturday, Shane Daly was by some distance the most nervous man in Thomond Park.

The province's URC win had been in the bag since midway through the second half, but the Munster wing had a sinking feeling as referee Federico Vedovelli studied the big screen, after Daly had made a high tackle on Joe Thomas.

Having spent two-and-a-half years trying to catch the eye of the Irish management team, he had been told in advance of last week’s game that he would be part of Mike Prendergast’s Ireland A squad for this afternoon’s meeting with England A in Bristol. Suddenly, that involvement was hinging on what colour card Vedovelli would pull from his pocket.

In the end, he was relieved to see yellow, before an extra stay in purgatory to find out if any further action would be taken.

"I didn't sleep Saturday night, I was waiting to hear the result of the citing on that," he says, relief still etched on his face.

"So look, that was one I got wrong unfortunately, it was probably a bit lazy towards the end of the game, probably thinking about getting into the dressing room afterwards.

"I just need to stay switched on at the end and make sure it doesn't happen again.

"Definitely, that was a bit of a disaster to be honest."

That brief scare is one of many reasons the 28-year-old is so keen to grasp his opportunity to impress this week.

A two-cap Ireland international, Daly last made a Test appearance in the summer of 2021 against Japan, but he stayed on the radar of Andy Farrell for another 18 months – touring South Africa with Emerging Ireland in September 2022, before featuring for Ireland A against a New Zealand selection that November.

The Cork man wasn’t