Despite always retaining hope of making it back into an Ireland side, a call-up for tomorrow's Test against New Zealand in Croke Park was not how Munster backrow Alan Quinlan envisaged making his return.

Injury and a loss of form contributed to Quinlan falling out of favour during Eddie O'Sullivan regime and he was given only sporadic opportunities in an Ireland shirt.

He watched in frustration from the sidelines as an appalling World Cup unravelled, with O'Sullivan stubbornly refusing to deviate from his first-choice selection but the appointment of his former coach at Munster, Declan Kidney, has brought another opportunity.

An admirer of Quinlan's combative spirit, Kidney used the in-form blindside from the bench in last Saturday's 55-0 demolition of Canada - and then promoted him to the starting line-up for the All Blacks.

It is the 34-year-old's first significant appearance since famously scoring the try that ensured Ireland qualified for the knockout stages of the 2003 World Cup.

"It never felt like my international career was petering out but that's my nature - I don't throw the towel in easily," said Quinlan, who will be winning his 27th cap tomorrow. "I've worked with big players over the years and you learn from them to keep the belief going.

"I was shell-shocked by the call-up and I've had to sit down and think about it for a while.

"I've been in a lot of rooms with Irish squads over the years and it's a terrible thing to say but I've become used to my name not being called out in the team - or even in the 22 that much.

"I don't have any axe to grind with anyone over that. Some of that was my own doing and I've had a bit of bad luck along the way."

Quinlan could not have asked for a bigger stage on which to mark his return, with the All Blacks wheeling out their big guns for the second hurdle on their northern hemisphere tour.

The numbers don't look good for Ireland, who have never beaten New Zealand in 21 attempts, while their previous best was a 10-10 draw in 1973. But Quinlan knows Croke Park will be charged with expectation.

"I've been given an opportunity in a big game and I hope I won't be looking back on it next week with regret," he said. "New Zealand are a fantastic team and when you play against players of that quality you have little room for error but I'll embrace the situation.

"I want to wake up on Sunday morning and be happy that I gave it everything, irrespective of whether things went right or wrong for me.

Kidney opened his Ireland reign in rampant fashion against Canada and Quinlan has revealed the coaching changes have revitalised a squad that had endured a dismal year.

"There was the disappointment of the World Cup last year and there wasn't the best feeling within the group afterwards, so we didn't have a good Six Nations," he said.

"Everyone needed to be refreshed a little bit. Certainly the coaches that Declan has brought in are fantastic - Les Kiss, Gert Small and Alan Gaffney have all brought different ideas.

"When you bring new people into the team with new ideas you get challenged as a player and it creates a good environment.

"Declan has brought three or four good people in and he obviously brings his own strengths, which are well documented."