![\"Outstanding](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/93952_2892194.jpg\")
<\/p>\n“Being in the team each week definitely gives you more confidence, but there’s a lot of competition still.”<\/p>\n
\nOutstanding under the high ball – Ireland’s Jamie Osborne(Image: \u00a9INPHO\/Billy Stickland)<\/p>\n
Jamie Osborne has started all three games to here in the 2026 Six Nations.<\/p>\n
The Leinster star<\/a> is alongside Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey, Jeremy Loughman, Dan Sheehan, Joe McCarthy and Caelan Doris in this regard.<\/p>\n Moreover three of these, Osborne, McCloskey and Doris have completed all 240 minutes – not a bad brag for the ‘stand in’ full-back!<\/p>\n Says the 24 year-old who is expected to play out the majority of is career as a centre: \u201cI think it’s helpful, definitely, stacking games on games because you get a bit more used to the role, a bit more confidence week on week.<\/p>\n “Anything that you need to work on from the previous week, you’re able to implement that. So it obviously makes things a bit easier.<\/p>\n “Being in the team each week definitely gives you more confidence, but there’s a lot of competition still. I wouldn’t say I’m comfortable.<\/p>\n “I like playing in a number of positions. It’s obviously a clich\u00e9, but wherever you get played, that’s where I’ll play but it’s definitely nice having a few games at 15 and just being able to concentrate on that for a bit and build on the performances.<\/p>\n “I know Jacob obviously has been training with us. He played against France on the wing, but he can definitely play no15.”<\/p>\n Osborne has been better than just average too, making almost all of the Teams of the Tournament compiled following the week three fixtures.<\/p>\n \u201cI enjoy the aerial and kicking game,” he says of embaracing the challenge.<\/p>\n “It’s a big part of the game at the moment and there’s a lot of contests and I think we, as a back three, have been really going after that in the Six Nations.<\/p>\n “I think the progress from the first week in Paris to Twickenham has been really good in that area that kind of suits my game.<\/p>\n And just being able to have a bit of freedom to work in the attack, just work around and offer an extra set of hands as well.\u201d<\/p>\n This is an area Ireland<\/a> have been working hard on behind the scences.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve been coached and been trying to always go as if you were going to catch it clean.<\/p>\n “When you get your position right and your timing right and you get up there and at the last second, you know you won’t be able to catch it, I think there’s a chance for you to change and slap it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I’d say it’s probably harder to do the other way. If you’re going up to slap it and then you realise, \u2018Oh, I could catch it cleanly,\u2019 it’s really harder to change what you’re going to do.<\/p>\n \u201cSo our mindset has been to try and win the balls cleanly, but with the contests now, it’s just as important to create some sort of scrap and hopefully we can win that as well.”<\/p>\n That little of GAA knocked into him at Naas CBS has come in handy.<\/p>\n “I actually wasn’t in that week that Brian Fenton was in last year but a few of the lads loved working with him those couple of days. I think they got a lot out of it.<\/p>\n “I think there was a bit about getting their knee up, being aggressive in the air, and a lot of the coaching points from that, we still take to this day.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, yeah, I think it’s important to look at other players in different sports that are obviously good. It’s not just GAA. If you look at Aussie rules, there’s been Aussie rules coaches and stuff in and around before.\u201d<\/p>\n Osborne will start at full-back again against Wales on Friday night bring him just one card short of a 2026 Six Nations full-house, a game where he suspects the Red threat could come from scrum-half and, most likely, his opposing number.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of their game runs through Tomas Williams and he’s obviously an excellent player, so I think it’ll be important for us to try and get to him and stop him.<\/p>\n \u201cBut also if you look at Louis Rees-Zammit in broken play, he has beaten so many defenders in the tournament already and he’ll be a threat, so we can’t kick loosely or chase poorly.”<\/p>\n Want to see more of the stories you love from the Irish Mirror? Making us your preferred source on Google<\/a> means you\u2019ll get more of our exclusives, top stories and must-read content straight away. To add Irish Mirror as a preferred source, simply click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n