Boss: Desperate to make the Ireland side

Boss won the last of his 13 caps as a replacement against Samoa last year, but it was as long ago as 2007 that he was regularly involved.

Born in Tokoroa, New Zealand but qualifying for Ireland through a grandmother, this autumn's World Cup has sharpened Boss's determination to regain his place.

"It will make it special with the World Cup being held in New Zealand,'' the Leinster scrum-half said.

"One of the matches is in Rotorua, which is half an hour away from where I grew up.

"Without a doubt I'd be absolutely broken if I didn't get there. If I did get there then it would be a nice thing that it's back in New Zealand.''

Judging on recent selection Boss appears an outside bet to fulfil his wish with Tomas O'Leary, Eoin Reddan and Peter Stringer ahead in the pecking order.

But with Ireland scheduling five warm-up matches for this month, starting against Scotland on Saturday, the 31-year-old should get a chance to stake his claim.

"I've been working hard over the last couple of seasons and moving from Ulster to Leinster has been good for me,'' he said.

"I'm lucky to be in the extended squad. If I get game time hopefully I can make every minute count.

"That's my only focus at the moment. All you can ask for is a chance. I knew that with my ability I'd be back in the Ireland squad at some point.

"I was given a couple of minutes last year against Samoa and I hope that's not the extent of it.''

Boss's progress has been hindered by the presence of Reddan, who is rated above him by Leinster and Ireland.

"Eoin has beaten me to selection a lot at Leinster, especially in the bigger matches,'' he said. ''If you want to have the opportunity to play for Ireland you have to be selected for the big games at provincial level.

"I played in a few of them, but it's competitive enough getting into Leinster's team, never mind Ireland's.''

Scrum-half has become a position of strength for Declan Kidney and the Ireland head coach could be rearranging his pecking order come August 22 when the final 30-man squad for the World Cup is announced.

"There are five scrum-halves and four matches, so it will be interesting to see what his thinking is,'' Boss added.

"Everyone is taking guesses at the moment, we'll have to wait and see.

"Unfortunately it's more competitive at scrum-half than it has been for a long time.

"It's one of the positions where we have most depth. That makes you compete harder. You can't take your mind off the prize.

"It's a funny sort of club scrum-halves are in; when we train together you always have an eye on the other fellas' pass.''

Ireland name their team to face Scotland at lunchtime on Thursday.