Kilcoyne eager to stake his claim

Munster prop Dave Kilcoyne says he hopes to nail down a permanent spot in the Irish squad when he starts his first international in a year against Argentina.

The 25-year old will win his 10th senior cap against the Pumas in Tucuman, with a strong season for Munster gaining him inclusion in the Pro12 team of the year and a recall to the national squad.

“It has been a long year. I was bitterly disappointed to miss out at the start of the year with the November internationals. Joe brought me in to the wider training group for the Six Nations. I was real hungry to get back in and was just trying to put my best foot forward with Munster. And in fairness to Joe, he’s watching every game and I’m delighted to be back starting this week.”

Kilcoyne missed out on the Six Nations triumph with Jack McGrath jumping ahead of him in the queue behind Cian Healy, but he just knuckled down to work.

“Joe gave me certain things around ball focus, areas around the chop tackle, that kind of thing, things that have really helped me. I think he opens your mind to how he sees the game being played. I identified weaknesses in my game and they have really come on. Hopefully, the management have seen that and they are rewarding me with the start this week.”