Ulster scrum-half Paul Marshall is completely focused on provincial duty as the Rugby World Cup dream recedes over the horizon.
The 30-year-old has three Ireland caps to his name since making his debut in 2013, but is not involved in the international setup at present ahead of next month's World Cup and speaking to Off The Ball's Cian Murtagh at the Guinness Pro12 launch in London, Marshall is accepting of the status quo.
"I haven't been involved at all last year so from my point of view, I'm just keeping my head down and playing with Ulster. Obviously I'm like anybody if you looked a year or two ago, I'd have loved to be making the World Cup but the reality is I'm not so I just need to start the season off well with Ulster and keep enjoying my rugby," he said.
"For me, I've had a couple of small tastes of international rugby, and if I was 20 again, I would love to have had more by the age of 30 but my point of view is to keep playing and obviously like any player, your dream is to play for your country and if that opportunity arose again, I would absolutely love it but I'm not putting too much pressure on."
However, he also feels the likes of Connacht's Kieran Marmion have performed well to earn opportunities.
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