Josh Wycherley sums up what it means as a young gun from the provinces looking to get selected for the Emerging Ireland tour next month.
"If I got the chance to get into camp or play those games, you’d tear the arm off for it," said the Munster prop.
Wycherley, 23, got the nod on Wednesday when Simon Easterby, the head coach for the three-match tour to South Africa, named a 35-strong squad for the games against the Griquas, the Pumas and the Cheetahs next month.
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The recognition is payback for the Cork front row's performances last term, when Wycherley made 14 appearances for Munster, making the most of Dave Kilcoyne's post-Six Nations absence through injury.
"All I can do now is really focus on week-to-week and try to perform as best you can for Munster at the moment," he said.
Wycherley, whose older brother Fineen is a big player in Munster's pack, will be fairly well briefed on what Easterby, Paul O'Connell, John Fogarty and the rest of the travelling coaches are looking for.
"You have chats with the coaches here and stuff like that, so the information gets trickled down (from the national set-up)," he explained.
"It’s all intertwining, and we can keep working on things we need to keep working on and hopefully at some stage when you get that chance you are ready to go."
This could be another important season in Wycherley's progression - and especially with Graham Rowntree, who he would have worked closely with on the Munster scrum, earning promotion to head coach.
"Through injuries and that I was lucky to get a lot of gametime, particularly towards the backend of that season," he acknowledged.
"You come into a fresh season, with a few new coaches, just buzzing to kick on again this year. You can only do the process as you did last year and see where the season takes you.
"Working with Graham the last couple of years now, it's really getting to know his style and seeing that come into it a bit more this season.
"We're training a different kind of style and yeah, really enjoying it at the moment. It's brilliant. We're probably just training a bit faster, training at a bit of a different tempo than we were.
"I'm not saying whether that was a bad thing or a good thing, but I'm just really enjoying the pace of it and enjoying the way we're playing."
So a new-look Munster get down to business at the Arms Park in Cardiff tomorrow night and Wycherley stresses that it is a big week for the Reds.
"We haven't really spoken about trophies or any of that," he said. "We're just going to take it week by week and just try to get better every week.
"That's kind of our main goal. Just keep pushing on every week to be competitive at the very end of the season and go from there.
"For now it's just about sticking to the process every week and building on each week. There hasn't been much talk about the end of the season. It's about now, really, and pushing on now.
"For us it's going to be about a big start. In that first half we need to start well, especially on a 4G where it's fast-paced, you have to really start well. That's probably a big target we're aiming for."
For himself, Wycherley will be hoping to show how much he has learned since making his debut against Cardiff in Thomond Park close to two years ago.
"Your first cap, you won’t forget it," he remarked.
"Mine was in the middle of Covid so I don’t think there were any fans there which I remember was a bit of a disappointment but running out at Thomond Park, I remember it like it was yesterday, the buzz at getting that call that you are on the bench and you are going to get your first run out.
"Obviously there is nothing guaranteed so you have to prove yourself again and push yourself into the team, so it’s exciting.
"It brings new competition, pushes everybody on from the start and it’s brilliant, I think, for the team."
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