Ireland caps still 'the big goal' for Stockdale

Jacob Stockdale says his form is as good as it has been "in a long while" as he looks to achieve his "big goal" of adding to his tally of 37 Ireland caps.

The 28-year-old Ulster wing was named in Andy Farrell's squad for next month's autumn Tests on the back of a strong start to the club season which has yielded three tries in five games.

An outstanding 2018 Six Nations campaign established Stockdale as Ireland's first-choice left wing, but he has fallen below Leinster's James Lowe in the pecking order in recent years.

With the exception of last year's World Cup, Stockdale has remained a regular in Ireland squads but he is keen to push his way into Farrell's matchday squads for the upcoming internationals against New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia in Dublin.

"Each time I've gotten in [the squad], I've been in different veins of form, sometimes a lot more confident, sometimes a bit less confident," said Stockdale, speaking 24 hours before the Ireland squad announcement.

"This is probably, I'd say, personally the most confident I've felt going in. I feel like this is the best form I've been in in a long while.

"The goal is to play in a green shirt but at the same time there's a lot of competition there, as there has been for the last three years. I've learned not to worry about it. It's not in my control so I don't let it bother me."

Stockdale also relishes the "good competition" he shares with New Zealand-born Lowe, who has won 33 caps having made his Ireland debut in November 2020.

"You'd probably love me to say 'no, I hate him!' but no, I really like Lowey," said Stockdale.

"He's a great fella and someone I bounce off a lot. We have a good bit of craic together.

"Don't get me wrong, we get competitive at times and it's good fun and I'll always love playing against him because he's physical and he's a challenge at times to defend. I love Lowey and there's good competition between the two of us."

Stockdale once again has the opportunity to impress Farrell, who will take a sabbatical from his Ireland duties to focus on leading the British and Irish Lions on next year's tour of Australia.

And while Stockdale currently considers himself an "unlikely shout" for Lions selection, he hopes that continuing his fine form will push him further into the conversation.

"It kind of feels like Lions years are always a year when anything can happen," he added.

"Lions selection, a lot of it is based on the November series and Six Nations before the tour. There's maybe a handful of players who will get selected on what they've done over the past two or three years, but the majority of the squad will be selected based on what they do in the months leading up to the tour.

"I'm a pretty unlikely shout right now but if I keep playing the way I've been trying to play at the moment then we'll see what happens."