Keith Wood is hopeful of returning to the Ireland fold in time for the Six Nations trip to Italy in three weeks.
Wood has missed all of Ireland’s Six Nations matches so far this year as he struggles to recover from a troublesome calf injury.
The Harlequins hooker was again watching from the stands yesterday as Brian O'Driscoll took centre stage with a hat-trick in the win over Scotland. And, while he is refusing to confirm an exact date for his comeback, Wood is optimistic of making coach Eddie O'Sullivan's squad later this month as Ireland seek the win which could set up a title decider with France in Paris.
"Coming back for Italy would be a reasonable aim," said the inspirational hooker.
"The calf has been a problem and there are two components now, the injury and then fitness.
"If it had cleared up reasonably quickly, there wouldn't have been much of a problem with the fitness aspect, but now I will have to work at it."
Wood's skills may be needed by O'Sullivan, maybe not against the Italians, but certainly for the trip to Grand Slam-chasing France.
Scotland, as England had before them, exposed the Irish line-out badly, and Wood's hooking replacement Frank Sheahan was substituted for the second match in succession.
Wood however, has confidence in the Munster player and insists that even if he returns to fitness, he is not guaranteed a place in the side.
"There are no automatic places in international rugby now," he said.
"Feeling sorry for Frank yesterday is the wrong way to look at it. The line-out is just one function of a hooker's role. If could go wrong for a few reasons, but he is the one most exposed if a problem occurs."
His lack of a playing involvement in Dublin allowed Wood to catch brief glimpses of England's demise in Paris, which once again ended Clive Woodward's hopes of a Grand Slam.
But as the scoreline filtered through, Wood insists he was not shocked by the outcome.
"I always felt that if France started well it might affect England's confidence," he said.
"The hype following their win over us two weeks ago was over the top.
"England had an easy ride that day because Ireland didn't play well at all. They were never going to get an easy ride in Paris. That French team has improved a great deal over the past 12 months."