Kill native Tracy hoping to establish himself as permanent fixture in Ireland squads

Kill native James Tracy is hoping to earn his first start for his country this weekend against Japan, and to stay involved with the national side on a consistent basis from now on.

The 26-year-old Leinster hooker has been a regular for his province this season, showing enough impressive form to force his way into selection for a test match against Canada last November, and he made his second appearance off the bench against Japan last week.

He is now hoping to firmly establish himself in the international environment, beginning with a first test start this weekend.

"I think any competitive person in any environment wants to be playing," said Tracy to the media in Japan.

"If I get the opportunity I'd love it. It would be an honour to pull on the jersey again. Hopefully I do, but if I don't, we can move on."

He will be fighting off the competition of numerous other hookers for the number 2 jersey however, with Lions star and current Irish captain Rory Best the current incumbent, while Sean Cronin, Dave Heffernan and Niall Scannell have all featured for Ireland in recent months too.

He has gotten used to competition in Leinster however, so he is confident he can work his way up the pecking order in Joe Schmidt's plans.

"It's funny, in Leinster there's Bryan Byrne, Sean Cronin, Richardt Strauss, so if you make a mistake you're falling down the pecking order very quickly," he said.

"So that pressure is always there and you learn the more you dwell on a mistake, the more you'll make of it, it's like the law of attraction, so I've learned the hard way, to live in the moment, and try deal with it that way. That has helped me in here when the pressure and stakes are higher.

"I still have to throw the ball in the lineout, as if no one's there, the old trick of imagine everyone is naked in the room when you're making a public speech."