Rhys Ruddock: Ireland return remains the goal

Rhys Ruddock admits that breaking back into the Ireland reckoning is his goal after falling down the pecking order.

The Leinster back row started in last season's Guinness Six Nations match against France but hasn’t been involved since.

With most of his rivals also team-mates at Leinster, he knows better than anyone what’s required to compete with Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan and Caelan Doris, currently the first choice back row for Andy Farrell.

Peter O’Mahony, who captained Ireland against Italy, and Gavin Coombes of Munster and Ulster’s Nick Timoney are also in the Irish panel.

"Last season I had a consistent run of games where I was playing well leading up to the Six Nations," said the 31-year-old, who will hope to make Leinster appearance number 202 when Leo Cullen’s side visit Ulster on Saturday evening in the URC.

"I wasn’t in the November internationals, got a lot of games and was playing well. That’s what led to the opportunity to play in that Six Nations.

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"In terms of my own performance levels, I’m probably not hitting the heights of my own performance as I did last season consistently.

"For me it about focussing on the contact area, both sides of the ball, in my ball-carrying, trying to be as dynamic as possible, winning collisions, not just necessarily running into people, getting more space and be able to play out of the tackle, which I felt I was a bit better at at the weekend [in the win over Benetton].

"Defensively, winning collisions, being more dominant in