At 34, Stringer found opportunities at Thomond Park gradually decrease with the club’s most capped player going from Heineken Cup winning scrum-half in 2006 to sitting on the bench for Munster A just five years later.

With Conor Murray and Tomás O’Leary nipping at his toes at both club and international level, youth won over experience as Stringer wasn’t handed a plane ticket to New Zealand for the World Cup by Declan Kidney.

This prompted the Cork-born star to end his 13-year affinity with Munster and cross the Irish Sea to join reigning Premiership champions Saracens.

But they say absence makes the hard grow fonder and just because Stringer isn’t plying his trade in the Emerald Isle doesn’t mean he has turned his back on his country.

Stuck on 98 caps Stringer is hellbent on joining the centurion club, with the 2012 RBS 6 Nations providing him a perfect opportunity.

And while he admits the young pretenders might have won the battle at club level, Stringer insists the war is far from over.

“It is hard to take and difficult to initially find yourself on the bench and you have an adjustment to make there as you go from starting games to finding yourself out of the 22,” said Stringer, who helped Ireland win the Grand Slam in 2009.

“It is very difficult but I just try to remain positive and try and take opportunities when they come along.

“There is competition for Ireland’s scrum-half position with Tomas O’Leary, Isaac Boss and Eoin Reddan all being involved and Conor Murray coming into Munster and being installed as Ireland’s number one.

“There has been a good battle for the jersey over the last few years and even though I am coming to the end of my career it is still something I have not given up on.

“The desire, drive and ambition is still there and if I didn’t have that then I would hang up the boots, which is something I am not ready to do at all.

“I have ambition to get back to where I was so from that point of view I would be disappointed in myself if I didn’t do that.

“All you can do is keep striving and keep training and see where it leads you but that is my goal.”

While Stringer was watching the World Cup from the comfort of his sofa, he isn’t the only one of Ireland’s golden generation coming to the end of their international careers – Ronan O’Gara, Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell and Geordan Murphy all the wrong side of 30.

And as the search continues to find new leaders, Stringer believes his former teammate Keith Earls is the man to pin your hopes on, as long as he transfers his form for the Red Army to the men in green.

“There are a few guys who I think can take over from a few of the older boys’ mantle,” he added.

“I think Keith Earls has shown, particularly for Munster, what he can do and I think at times there have been glimpses for Ireland but he hasn’t consistently shown it and I think he knows that himself.

“Training with him you can just see what they guy can do and it is incredible.

“I think that he just has so much more to offer. He is a young guy at 24 years of age and has got to the very height of the game so far so we will see another ten years of him and he is only going to get better.

“There are young guys coming through the whole time and it is an exciting time and there is plenty of talent there within in the four provinces to be excited about.”