Jack Aungier finally got a taste of the big time last year - now he's hungry for a longer stint at European club rugby's top table.
Frustrated at making just five appearances off the bench with Leinster over three years, the former first-choice Ireland under-20s tighthead has relished his chance with Connacht since joining in the summer of 2020.
His first experience of Champions Cup rugby came off the bench last season, against Racing and Bristol Bears, before Covid trouble shut down the pool stages and the westerners' involvement ended.
This year's involvement starts at home to Stade Francais on Sunday and getting 34 minutes as a replacement against his former club last weekend was strong preparation, despite what was ultimately a heavy defeat.
"There was great learning in it, coming up against international props last week," said Aungier. "It's going to be a similar challenge, but I definitely feel like I'm ready for it.
"It was obviously my goal when I came down here, to play a lot more than I did in previous years. You want to play at the highest level.
"Racing and Bristol last year were two of the top teams in Europe so it was great to get the opportunity.
"It was a great challenge - we came close against Racing and the Bristol one got away from us, but it's definitely a different level to the URC or anything I've played before that.
"I think I've grown a lot. It was in my year before that I'd played five times for Leinster but only around 80 minutes in total.
"When you play 13 or 14 games it gives you confidence that the coaches believe in you and you start getting more confident on the pitch.
"My game has probably improved a lot since the move down here, just due to that game time.
"It's different experiences as a young prop, coming up against some of the best looseheads around is definitely making you better instead of sitting in the stands if you're at Leinster."
As for Stade, Aungier describes the Top 14 outfit as "a bit inconsistent" so far this season but pointed out how they came from behind to beat Ronan O'Gara's La Rochelle.
"In Europe, anything can happen so you can't look at their Top 14 form," the 23-year-old Suttionians man reasoned.
"It's very important to get off to a winning start. Friendy (Andy Friend) talked about it, to be the first Connacht team to get out of their pool.
"It's a very tough challenge with Leicester around the corner, they haven't lost this season. It's important to get off to a good start.
"We probably took our foot off it a bit last week, but there's still a lot of belief in this squad that we can get out of this pool."
