As Ireland prepare to take on England in a crunch Six Nations match which could well decide the destination of the championship and Grand Slam, Jordi Murphy is likely to play a prominent role.
The Ireland and Leinster back-row could start the match, or come off the bench at the very least.
Thus, it's hard to believe that until relatively recently, the 23-year-old was still adjusting to life in an English-speaking world, having spent his early years in Barcelona.
"My parents moved over there in the late '80s and my sister and I were born over there. So I was a Spanish-speaking kid until the age of 8 or 9. Came back to Ireland and my English wasn't the best. I could understand it but I never really spoke it much. My parents would speak English to me and I'd speak Spanish back," said the former Blackrock College student, who bears a Catalan first name and keeps Barcelona close to his heart.
"It didn't take me very long, but it did take me a while to start thinking and speaking in English."
The versatile back-row, who played soccer in his early years in Spain before switching to rugby after moving to Ireland, also shared his experience of playing in both flanker positions and at No 8.
"They are very different roles. It's mostly just on the homework side of things. It's completely different positions on the lineout and you need to know all the calls around you," he said.
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