"Quarterback Pass" - Jamie Osborne impressed by Stuart McCloskey's Ireland form in Six Nations

Osborne was a stand-out performer from Ireland's return to winning ways, as he crossed over for a well taken try to ignite the try-scoring efforts from the hosts. Osborne raced away unscathed on his way to the try-line, as he exploded onto Stuart McCloskey's expertly timed offload, in what has become a trademark touch from the in-form Ulster centre.

“It was a real team effort." Osborne said on his try. "We worked our way into the 22 well, and with Stu [McCloskey] when he gets the ball in his hands you know he's probably going to get his hands free. I just tried to run off him, and I was lucky enough to get a ball off him and score, I can't take too much credit."

McCloskey followed this up in the second half, as the 33-year-old threw an over the top pass to his Ulster teammate, in a play straight out of the recent NFL Superbowl. McCloskey found Six Nations debutant Rob Baloucoune out on the wing with a 'quarterback' inspired offload, to send the tournament newcomer in over the try-line for a memorable moment in Dublin.

“To be fair, I didn't expect him to throw a quarterback pass to Rob Baloucoune!" Osborne added. "He comes out with a bit of unexpected stuff as well but he's a joy to play with. When you see him carrying forward, and you're behind him you know you've got a good chance he's going to pop the ball to you. He always gets good go-forward ball and he's so good at getting his hands free."

Rob Baloucoune also took a starring role upon Ireland's latest Six Nations efforts, as 'The Cat' marked his long awaited tournament debut with a phenomenal shift to take home the Player of the Match award.

“I thought Rob was class." Osborne added. "He's been great about it, it was my first week really training with him as well and I thought just his ability with the ball, he gets his hands free as well. His ability to beat defenders and his own out speed is a real point of difference for him and he's a joy to play with

Despite McCloskey and Baloucoune's touches of brilliance, the end result at the Aviva Stadium, was a far from pretty 20-13 win for Ireland. Osborne shared how the men in green are steadily on the up, as they build through the campaign, hving dusted off the opening round defeat in Paris. The Leinster wing is excited to keep this momentum rolling ahead of this weekend's blockbuster trip to South West London.

“It's hugely exciting." Osborne said. "I think any sport, Ireland vs England is a proper game. England at Twickenham, you've seen how good they've been recently at home, they played very well last week against Wales but I think they're losing now [against Scotland].

"They're a team with very high confidence and we're probably a team that is starting to build now. So, we're coming into it a little bit differently, but I can't wait to get stuck into them. I think we're building something good here."

Osborne sustained a tough shoulder injury against Japan in the second week of the Autumn Nations Series, which side-lined the Leinster man for four months. Despite not featuring for his province in the time between November and February, Osborne rallied back to full fitness in time to make his return in Ireland's opening Six Nations defeat to France. The 24-year-old now feels like he is ready to take on the world, having got the on-field minutes back under his belt.

“I felt good last week going into the game [against France] and I felt better this week again after another week of training." Osborne explained. “A lot of credit has to be given to the medical team at Leinster. Even the week of camp in Portugal I probably did a lot more extras around contact, than I would usually do, just because I haven't had that. By the time I was going into the game, I was feeling good and it's a credit to them and the work they did."

5. Osborne came through his local club Naas RFC from minis to senior rugby, a pathway he’s said he’s proud of — a less typical route to professional rugby compared with many Leinster players from the big Dublin schools.