Josh van der Flier staying grounded

There will be no chance of Josh van der Flier ever losing the run of himself now he is an Ireland international.

He may be his country’s newest openside flanker and judging by his debut performance against England at Twickenham a fortnight ago there will be plenty more opportunities in green for the Leinster back-row.

Yet aside from the competition for the number seven jersey that would keep anyone’s ambitions in perspective, there was another quite different reality check for the 22-year-old.