Eoin Reddan will rely on his big match experience in the likes of the Heineken Cup as he prepares for the biggest challenge of his career on Friday.
The Wasps scrumhalf, a European Cup winner with the English side this season, will win just his fourth cap when replacing Peter Stringer for the all-or-nothing showdown with the hosts.
But the 26-year-old insists he will not fazed by what is at stake at the Stade de France.
"I have had a lot of big games this year and it's great that they keep getting bigger," he said. "It's a natural progression for any rugby player to want to play in a Test match as big as this.
"What I have learned since I have been at Wasps is that I enjoy playing big games and hopefully they will keep coming."
Reddan's rapid delivery and acceleration has seen him promoted above Ulster's Isaac Boss, who continues to provide cover from the bench, with Stringer dropping out of the squad entirely.
The Limerick native spent spells at Connacht and Munster before former Ireland coach Warren Gatland brought to him to the Guinness Premiership in 2005.
Supplanting England World cup winner Matt Dawson as Wasps' first choice for the number nine jersey, he made his Test debut against Friday's opponents France in 2006.
But the presence of Stringer and last season's emergence of Boss blocked his path to further international honours until this summer's tour to Argentina.
"I didn't expect the call but you train every week as though you are a part of the team," said Reddan. "When you're not in the team you train harder in case you are involved the following week.
"It's for others to say what my qualities are. I just play my own game and I know what Eddie wants from me. That's clear enough. I'd never been told I'm third-choice. In today's rugby there are obviously lots of different ways of picking squads and picking teams.
"I've always had frank chats with the coaching staff and they have always been very honest with me. I've never had any reason to drop my head because of what they have said to me.
"They have always been very positive, not just now but over the past two years. It was just a matter of working hard and waiting for it to break for me. That's what's happened now."
