Jacob Stockdale: Ireland wing says adding to cap tally still ‘big goal’

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.”