Hugo Keenan has credited former Dublin footballer Brian Fenton for their crucial try in Saturday's win against Wales in Cardiff.
Ireland came from 18-10 down to avoid a shock defeat to the Wales, with their 27-18 triumph securing a Triple Crown and keeping their Grand Slam bid alive.
A second half try for Jamie Osborne on 56 minutes drew Ireland level at 18-18, with the full-back latching onto a clever tap-down of a kick by James Lowe.
With Jamison Gibson-Park dropping a chip into the corner while Ireland had a penalty advantage, Lowe made no attempt to catch the ball, instead batting it into space for his Leinster team-mate to run onto and score.
And Keenan has revealed that play was something they had worked on when former Dubs midfielder Fenton had visited the Irish camp the previous week.
"It’s something we were definitely talking about with him. You might have to give a little bit of credit to Fento and Goodie [Andrew Goodman] around that and the cues we picked up off him, and little tips and tricks."
However, Keenan says Fenton (below) added more to the group than just tips on high fielding.
"He was brilliant. He’s obviously had such a successful career in Dublin, six All-Ireland's in a row, so we were picking his mind around his mentality of keeping that level of consistency going.
"Also he was doing a bit of work with the back three and backs around the high-ball stuff, and he had a few good cues for us around the breaking ball and Andrew Goodman was picking his brain as well as us and encouraging him to get involved," the Irish full-back added.
The aerial work has become a major focus for the rest of the Irish backfield players in recent months, following World Rugby’s diktat to officials to clamp down on 'escorting’, a practice which has players effectively form a guard around a player attempting to catch a high kick.
Ireland struggled with that new interpretation of the laws in November, but have looked far more comfortable with their fielding and kicking game in this championship.
Keenan played in three of Ireland’s four games in November, before missing the next six weeks with a wrist injury, which he says allowed him time to do some homework on how to tweak his fielding.
"When you’re in games, playing matches, you don't get to watch a whole lot of rugby other than the game you’re involved in or the opposition you’re against, scouting them.
"You'd be watching the odd big game or international that’s on, but I definitely found myself over that December period watching a lot more, whether it was European rugby or Premiership, because you have a bit more time on your hands.
"There are little cues that you pick up here or there, little trends that you see teams picking up in attack.
"It’s definitely around the kicking game that’s changed, between the 50:22 rule coming in and now a bit less protection in and around the aerial fielding and high balls, that’s come in more recently.
"It’s an exciting time for back three and an interesting one too, to see what’s the best way to go about it from an attacking and defensive point of view," he added.
