Kearney acknowledges the benefits of playing under the union’s highly-rated player welfare system but his future will depend to a large part on what is up for offer. O’Brien made the decision to leave Leinster on the basis that there was no central contract on the table.

The flanker ultimately decided the grass was indeed greener with the Exiles and is said to have signed a contract that mirrors the financial package he is currently on with the IRFU. And Kearney admits that there is merit in the idea of playing abroad.

“Yeah, it would appeal but it’s a big decision too. There would have to be a lot of variables stack up in your favour and I know it was a difficult decision for Seanie. So it’s not one that you make flippantly. There’s a fair bit of thought you need to do.”

Kearney is happy to continue playing “once the body stays good and fit and I’m playing games” but he admitted that he can “lose a bit of interest in the whole thing” when injury pays a visit, as it has at times in recent seasons.

Whatever his decision, it seems certain that Kearney will be fully appreciated here only when he is gone.

This last few weeks have reiterated as much given the subplot surrounding his non-selection against England and his return for the meeting with Scotland.

Kearney has been aware of the debate over his form and his skillset as a full-back for years and, while it must frustrate him, he is professional enough and realistic enough to ignore it as best he can and carry on regardless.

There is an awareness too that Joe Schmidt needs to survey all his options before the World Cup and the bald fact is that there is no-one making a persuasive case for the job of Kearney’s deputy at the back, let alone as his replacement.

“I get it, of course. I might not particularly like it, but that’s what has to happen for the betterment of the team and to put us in the best possibility and chance of winning a World Cup.

“We need to have 30 players who can play so many different positions and we do have that.”

The latest inquisition as to his own place in the pecking order began on the back of another injury absence and a less-than-sterling performance against Scarlets at the end of January when the rest of the Ireland squad was already in camp in Portugal.

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“It’s been blown out of proportion more than it was,” he said of that performance. “I picked up a knock on the Friday before the game. I wasn’t physically in a great place, the day of the Scarlets game.

“But I knew if I didn’t play that week I wouldn’t have been helping myself for the following two weeks, in terms of getting minutes for the Six Nations.

“Mentally, I could have been in an awful lot better place. Then, obviously, those few (missed) tackles, the first two one-on-ones in the backfield are difficult tackles to make, the third one I just got gassed on the outside. That was just poor. I had a couple of good carries. It was probably just the defensive side of things that let me down.”

He knew long before the team was named for England that he would be sitting it out and there was an understandable sense of helplessness as he sat on his couch and watched as Robbie Henshaw auditioned for the No. 15 jersey. Kearney had chatted to his Leinster colleague about the role prior to the game but he was honest enough to admit that there was a sense of inner conflict as he looked on at a game in which Henshaw and the back three in general struggled.

“It makes me feel better than if I was watching them and everything went perfectly for them. Of course you want the team to win and you want your mates to go well but you have to be a little bit selfish about it as well in terms of your own future.

“I want to be on the team, if I want to be picked on the team I’ll have to be the best full-back out of everyone else. Ultimately that’s what you’re hoping comes out in the game.”