I'd carry water if I could make a difference - Conan

"I've been bouncing in every day. It's an incredible privilege."

After an 11-month absence from the green jersey, Ireland's Jack Conan wasted little time in getting back up to speed.

Bench impact was one of the keys to victory in the 27-22 win over England that kicked off the side's Six Nations title defence on Saturday, with the Leinster number 8 to the fore having been introduced in the 50th minute.

Having missed last summer's tour to South Africa for the birth of his first child and then Ireland's entire November slate through injury, the 32-year-old looked like he had never been away, yet said he had felt the time keenly.

"I hadn't played [for Ireland] since 16 March last year, 11 odd months," he said.

"Obviously expecting a baby, that was far more important than rugby, but missing November with an injury, you miss the environment, you miss the craic, you miss the lads.

"When you get a bit older, you realise that probably most of your good days are behind you, so I just want to make the most of every chance I get and I feel like I did that."

In making one particularly dynamic linebreak, Conan admitted he even surprised himself.

"It's not something that happens to me that often. I was looking around for lads," he said.

"You have to know your limitations. A piece of me did think that if I chip it over him and catch it, it will look incredible. But I'd never done that before and that probably wasn't the time to do it."

Instead it was left to Conan's fellow replacement Dan Sheehan to provide the bonus-point try. Having also missed November through injury, in his case a torn ACL sustained against the Springboks in July, Conan was thrilled to see his Leinster team-mate back on the Test stage just seven months on from such a serious injury.

"When you're not playing for such a long period of time it is so hard to just come back and hit your straps off the bat.

"He had the 60 minutes for Leinster against Stormers [on 25 January] and now this and it's like he was never away. That is such a difficult thing to do.

"I'm actually underselling it to say he just rocked up and did that. The mental and physical work is unreal. I don't think there's many athletes in any sport could do that. I think he's a bit of an outlier in that."

A starter in all three Tests for the British and Irish Lions against South Africa four years ago, Conan accepts he has since developed a reputation for being "decent" off the bench and is happy to take on any role to help the team to victory.

"In modern day rugby it's never just about the 15, it's about the 23 and even more so it's about the lads who aren't playing, who put us under savage pressure throughout the week," he said.

"Jeez, I'd carry water if I could make a difference.

"Look, you always want to be starting. It's not ego, but you want to have as much of an effect as you can.

"At the end of the day, when I retire I won't look back and say, I had 20 starts and 30 off the bench, it won't matter to me. It's about just wearing the jersey and having those memories and winning things."