PETER CLOHESSY is ready to win his 15th international cap for Ireland on Saturday. That is a significant milestone for the tight head who made his international debut against France two years ago.

No name in Limerick rugby, and certainly not in the Young Munster club, is more revered than that of the late Tom Clifford, a Triple Crown hero of the 1940s and a member of the famous Lions side that toured Australia and New Zealand in 1950. It is a measure of the esteem in which Clifford, like Clohessy an uncompromising prop forward, was held before his untimely death a few years ago that the Young Munster club renamed their Greenfields ground in his memory.

Clifford won 14 caps for Ireland between 1949 and 1951, helping Ireland to win the Triple Crown and Championship in 1949 and the Championship again in 1951. Against Scotland on Saturday, Clohessy will break Clifford's record as the most capped member of the Young Munster club.

The significance of that has not escaped Clohessy. "I was not conscious of it at the start of the season in all honesty until it was pointed out to me that if I won another cap I would beat Tom's club record," he said.

"Tom is a legend in Limerick and even to be compared to him is an honour. While his international career by modern standards was comparatively short, he achieved an immense amount, and if I can achieve anything near as much I would be very happy. It is a great privilege to be linked with him and to be compared with him".

Clohessy, who will celebrate his 30th birthday in March, has known the vagaries of sporting fortune and has learned to live with them and accept them philosophically. After he won three caps in the 1993 championship, he lost out against Romania in the initial stages of the following season because of suspension imposed in controversial circumstances.

But he put that setback behind him and was an ever present in the side throughout the 1994 championship and then went to Australia with Ireland that summer. He had an outstanding tour and his play brought well merited praise from the then Australian coach Bob Dwyer, who two years previously had criticised Clohessy, among others, after Munster had beaten the then World champions.

After the second test of that tour, a match in which Clohessy scored a try, Dwyer said: "There are few better props around now than Peter Clohessy." The player smiles at the memory. "It was much nicer to hear that compliment than some of what he had said two years previously."

Clohessy won five caps last season, against the United States and in the four championship matches, but then came a halt to his international career. He had just started a new business in Limerick and had no alternative but to inform the Ireland management that he would not be available for the World Cup.

"That was one of the hardest decisions I had to make, but I really had no other option in the circumstances. I would love to have gone to South Africa and played in the World Cup," he says, the tinge of regret still evident even after eight months.

Paul Wallace and Gary Halpin shared the tight head prop duties in South Africa, and Clohessy knew he had a fight on his hands to regain the number three jersey. When the new Ireland management team named the preliminary squad in October, Clohessy was not in it, Halpin and Wallace were.

In addition to missing the World Cup, Clohessy was hit by a knee injury early in the season which put him out of action for over a month.

"That came at a very bad time for me in many respects. I was unable to play, and it affected my fitness. I knew I had to play my way back into the squad and that was never going to be easy, especially in the circumstances. But you cannot stay dwindling on the past, you must put it behind you and get on with, facing the challenges of the future."

Even when Halpin opted out of international consideration, Clohessy, by now back playing for his club and for Munster, was not called in. The call eventually came after he played well for Munster against Castres in the European Cup in Mazamet. But when the team and replacements were chosen for the match against Fiji in November, Wallace was retained at tight head and Clohessy was not included in the 21. "I was disappointed, but my determination was in no way diminished," he said.

"My initial objective at that stage was to get into the squad for the visit to America and Championship. When I was chosen for that, it was a great relief. I felt I was back in the frame. In terms of physical fitness, I do not think I have ever felt as fit."

But he was not even a replacement for the international in Atlanta. "I would like to have played in Atlanta, but at least I was in the squad and knew I had my chances. I was delighted when I heard I had been chosen to play against Scotland. I was back in the national side and that had been my objective. It is now up to me to justify my selection and to play in a way that will enable to me to retain my place.

"You can take nothing for granted, nor are you entitled to. The competition for places in the Ireland side is considerable, and that in itself has to be a good thing for the team," he said.

Clohessy sees the financial rewards that now go with the international squad and team membership as a bonus. Money has not been a motivating factor for me. My anxiety to get into the Ireland side would have been, just the same if there was no money involved.

Clohessy, who has been impressed by the attention to detail and methodical training and preparation of the side, has played on winning teams against England (twice), and Wales (twice). But like all butt one member of the Ireland side next Saturday Terry Kingston - he has not played on a winning team against Scotland.

"We are at the start of a new era in the game and there would be no better way to mark that than by winning on Saturday," he said. "It is time we beat the Scots. I will be doing my utmost to try to bring $ that about and start the new era and the championship with a win in what is a crucial match for us all."