Now that he has a taste of the big stage, Joe Dunleavy wants to get another crack under the Kingspan Stadium spotlights with Ulster.
Dunleavy turns 20 next month and on Friday night the blindside flanker made his debut for the Ulster senior team in a 21-5 win over Uruguay in Belfast.
Dunleavy played 40 minutes as an experimental Ulster defeat Les Teros and it was a historic night for the Letterkenny man, who became the first ‘locally-produced’ rugby player to line out for Ulster.
Unlike Letterkenny man Allen Robinson, who played for Ulster in the 1990s having come across the Ulster Schools’ conveyor, Dunleavy’s skills were honed at Letterkenny Rugby Club.
“I was buzzing to get onto the pitch, I just could not wait for it to start,” Dunleavy said.
“I was waiting all day, I didn’t know what to do with myself. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I really enjoyed it.