Johnny Wattersontalks to the young winger, who has settled well into the Irish side

There will be a swathe of players involved in Blackrock's replay against Clongowes Wood in the Leinster Schools' Senior Cup tomorrow looking to Paris, dreaming the dream and wondering how on earth Rob Kearney pulled it off.

From schoolboy big cheese to a starting place in Paris three seasons on suggests that these days fairytales still have legs. Soon Luke Fitzgerald will surely re-emphasise that view.

The former Clongowes boy might have ended up kicking and fetching high ball for the Louth Gaelic football team had it not been for a twist of educational fate. Kearney won't shed tears over a missed career with Cooley Kickhams and the GAA. As Leinster schools players go, he represents rugby's perfect career curve.

As a teenager, Kearney was brought into the Ireland set-up, the ink on his Leaving Certificate barely dry. While he missed the pick up on those early flirtations with Eddie O'Sullivan, he made good his progress in other ways. His performances for Leinster this season were often irresistible, his defence sounder than ever. But for international recognition that sometimes isn't enough. Gordon D'Arcy's fractured arm bought everything together. Sometimes a flash fire is needed for greener shoots to come through.

"Coming from school you feel a lot of pressure," says Kearney. "But I suppose it is beneficial because it is a stepping stone for what lies ahead for a professional player. Looking back now it was huge. You have the pressure of the whole school and it was everything, the pinnacle of your whole rugby career at that moment in time.

"Sure your ambitions are always there but when it's going to come you can never tell, if at all. When I first went pro at 19 with Leinster I certainly never said I wanted to be playing for Ireland by such and such a date. You just have to work on it over seasons and illustrate new goals. It's everyone's dream and everyone wants it as soon as possible. It's where you want to be.

"When I was first in the autumn squads three years ago I wanted it then. There was a game against the Pacific Islanders where I could have been involved. In hindsight now, I wouldn't have been ready for it but at the time I certainly wanted it and I wanted it as quickly as I could get it."

Kearney also has the looming presence of Shane Horgan on the bench to preserve the image of a hungry wolf snarling at his heels. Not one for flights of fancy that image of a hungry Meath man will not only be blanked out but used as a motivational tool.

"It gives me great confidence that I can look at the bench - granted Shane is coming back from injury - and see someone of his standard and class and you are taking the field ahead of him," he says. "It's hugely encouraging and gives you a bit more confidence in your own ability."

If Kearney leaves an impression it is one of self-containment and control. He doesn't rise to flattery and easily finds his way back to comforting mantras such as "consistency" and "performance" He's the natural athlete, the mobile runner with what Brian O'Driscoll called "the most educated left boot I've seen for a long time".

For him, the broken play and the instinct to find space and exploit it came easily. His rise to the Ireland flank has come, not just on the back of that natural ability, but in being able to diminish those less lauded aspects of his game that had the potential to hurt the team.

"Something I've been working harder and harder on over the last season or so is to take things on a week-to-week basis. In France I'll be again looking for a good performance, defensively strong," he says. "For me, a good performance defensively is the most important thing. As a natural attacker and in open field running . . . that comes naturally. Defence is hugely important. No errors. When you get opportunities later maybe to score tries or a dart in the corner or have a crack at broken field running . . . I suppose consistency and an error free game is what I would constitute as a good performance."

It was Declan Kidney, who introduced Kearney to Leinster, Michael Cheika who armed him sufficiently well for Magners Celtic League and Heineken European Cup and now O'Sullivan hopes to add lustre and complete the conversion.

"France is one of the super powers of world rugby," he explains. "We are capable of beating them provided we play to our full potential. It's daunting in different ways but at the same time there is no reason why we can't do it." Rob Kearney, 21-years old, going on 31.