The sense of excitement is building around seeing Robert Baloucoune on the international stage this summer, but had things worked out differently, the Ulster winger would be lining out in an alternative green jersey over the coming weeks.
Baloucoune was a key part of the Ireland sevens team in 2018 before his eye-catching performances earned him a place in the Ulster Academy.
The speedster was well suited to the smaller code and might well have stuck at it and been involved in last weekend's squad who secured their place at the Tokyo Olympics.
“It was unbelievable,” Baloucoune said of his former team-mates' stunning achievement.
“I was away for the weekend so I had it on my phone in the car sitting watching the games with my friends. It was pi**ing down with rain outside and we were all sat in the same car watching it all.
The Ireland Sevens team will play in the Olympic tournament for the first time in Tokyo later this year. Image credit: Sportsfile.
“It's an unbelievable achievement. To go to the Olympics is a dream for them. For all the work they've put in, and to finish it off with France who are a great team, it's unbelievable.”
Sevens played an important role in the development of Baloucoune's skills and after overcoming a serious hamstring injury last year, he looked back to his best for Ulster at the end of last season.
“I went into sevens really before the Academy or the usual routes,” the 23-year-old explained.
"I was playing junior rugby for Enniskillen. Obviously other players were playing a different standard of rugby and it allowed me to catch up and put my skills to the test.
"If I'd been playing 15s I'd have been stuck on the wing and I wouldn't have got the same ball or had to make as many tackles or been involved in the game as much.
"Sevens really drove that and playing with the lads that are still there and now going to the Olympics, Jordan Conroy, Terry Kennedy and then others that are here (with Ireland) now like Hugo Keenan and Shane Daly and boys like that.
Ulster’s Robert Baloucoune, left, is one of 12 uncapped players in Andy Farrell’s Ireland squad (Niall Carson/PA)
"Whenever I was younger I was playing in school and went up for a day or two and played sevens, I was just approached by Ulster then and had a few injuries and got dropped from Ulster and wasn't involved with sevens or anything.
"But then James Topping, who was the manager with Ireland sevens, he would have been my coach at U-19s with Ulster so I knew him, he called me whenever I was holiday with a few mates in the summer and asked if I wanted to train with Ulster, just over the summer for a couple of weeks.
"We ended up playing an in-house game and afterwards I was then given an Academy/sevens contract, but I didn't really train with the Academy, I was pretty much full-time sevens, so that's what got me back in the system."
Having decided to park his sevens career, Baloucoune is now eyeing his Ireland debut in the upcoming summer Tests against Japan and the USA.
"It's been an aim, what I've been training for and pushing for," he admitted.
"For all those games with Ulster, putting in performances, it leads to this. I'm really looking forward to trying to get that first cap and if that happens now in this series that would be great.
"I think what I back myself on is my defensive plays. I feel I read the game well, I'll try to force (the opposition) behind the gain-line and I think just bringing that intensity in defence and I suppose in attack as well, catching kicks, are all things I think I can bring to the game."
It has been quite the journey for Baloucoune since his days playing underage rugby with Enniskillen before moving into Ireland sevens setup, and he is now relishing taking the next big step in his fledgling career.
"I'd say when I was with Enniskillen I didn't think I was going to be involved with anything, to be honest," he added.
"I was out of the Ulster system as well and that didn't really seem like a goal, so then when I got a call for Ulster, when I signed my first contract for the Academy and sevens, it was only then I believed I could make a living out of this and it could be a full-time job.
"But yeah, it seems like long ago when I was playing for Enniskillen, I was just getting by and playing games, I didn't really see it as an option.
"I look back on it and if you said it to me (that I'd be here) three or four years ago, I'd be shocked, I wouldn't have thought about it at all.
"But you do get a realisation whenever you see everybody in camp and getting the kit and stuff like that, it's been a weird journey but I've kind of just went up every step and here I am now in Irish camp. It's been great."
