Nov 21,2024
Jamie Osborne is ticking off the boxes, bit by bit, and the 23-year-old is hoping to tick another in the next few days.
After making his Test debut down in South Africa this summer, he got to experience a first taste of a home international in recent weeks when he came off the bench in the games against New Zealand and Argentina at Aviva Stadium.
And now, either this Saturday or next week, he's hoping to get in for a first Irish start on home soil.
"It'd be amazing," he says of the prospect of getting a start against Fiji on Saturday or Australia the following week.
"If I am lucky enough to be selected, I feel ready.
"Once you get the first cap there's just that relief of getting it done.
"Playing at home, the anthems, it was special. I know the All Blacks game didn't go to plan, but even to stand in front of the Haka for the first time was definitely a special experience. I loved it.
"I think the goal for everyone is probably to start but I’ve been lucky to be involved as well the last couple of weeks.
"I’ve covered different positions as well which is good experience I suppose. Hopefully I can get the start in one of the last two games anyway."
Andy Farrell will name his team this afternoon for Saturday’s meeting with Fiji and there’s a good chance that Osborne (below) will come into the starting side.
On Friday night, the versatile Leinster back made a big impression when he came off the bench against Argentina, with his performance described as "immense" by Farrell in the press conference after.
And while Osborne is relatively pleased with the impact he’s made in his early Test career, he believes there’s a lot of scope for improvement.
"Coming on at the same time as Sam [Prendergast], you both probably feel you have to come on and make an impact, bring energy to the team," added Osborne, who has featured in each of Ireland's last four games.
"I think that’s the expectation of the bench. There were probably a few moments that we got our hands on the ball and were able to find a bit of space but we didn’t score points in the last 20 either so we need to work on finishing those moments off.
"I think as a team we probably wanted to perform better than we showed [against New Zealand] but Argentina was definitely a step up from New Zealand in terms of how we attacked the game at the start, probably a bit inaccurate and ill-disciplined in the second half, but definitely an improvement and we’re hoping to improve again this week.
"From a personal point of view, I thought I had a decent enough impact on the game when I came on but obviously there’s definitely some other things I could have done better as well."
His versatility has made him a valuable asset, both for Leinster and Ireland. More known as an inside centre, he won his first two caps at full-back in South Africa while Hugo Keenan was playing with the Ireland Sevens team.
And the Naas man says juggling the two positions does require some extra prep behind the scenes.
He said: "It can be difficult at times knowing all the roles off launch moves, but I've been doing it in camp for a while now and I'm kind of used to it.
"When you're number 23 on the bench you've to know everything basically, you've to cover everything, so I'm kind of getting used to it."
Fiji come to Dublin looking for a first ever win against Ireland, having beaten Spain and Wales in recent weeks, while Mick Byrne’s side did lose heavily to Scotland in their first game of the month.
"I think they're a very good side, they've a couple of game-breakers on their team," said Osborne.
"They’ve players who can create something out of nothing. They can be hard to prepare for because you don’t want to give them any loose ball, or you don’t want to be loose at all, so the focus for us is on ourselves and making sure that we’ve got our bits covered for the game.
"They’re hugely physical and they also have the offloading ability and the pace to break teams so we have to be connected in defence and we have to be all over our work because lads like [Waisea] Nayacalevu, they create something out of nowhere.
"It’s just on us to be connected and really go after them."
