The Connacht scrum-half is eyeing Conor Murray's place in the international set-up after making his debut earlier this year.
Kieran Marmion faces the Newport-Gwent Dragons in Connacht's opening Guinness PRO12 clash on Saturday with the goal of stealing Munster counterpart Conor Murray's place in the Ireland set-up.
The 22-year-old made his first Ireland appearance when he replaced Murray in the 29-17 win over Argentina and feels that, by watching Murray's game and learning from new Connacht signings like Mils Muliaina, he can play a key role for Joe Schmidt in England in a year's time.
"I look at Conor Murray and try to bring bits of his game to mine and make my own game better. I look at what he does in certain situations and analyse how he influences the match around the pitch," said Marmion.
"For every Irish player, the World Cup is your goal. If you have a good season here there is no reason why anyone can't make the squad. It is about putting performances together to try make that squad.
"Training and playing with the Irish players shows you how much a level you need to step up to. Little things turn into big things when you get to a higher level so I have been bringing that attitude into my training and putting it on myself to improve those standards so I can put it up to them."
On the influence of Connacht's new signings, chiefly legendary All Blacks full-back Muliaina, Marmion added: "It's great for us young lads to be able to learn off these new signings coming in. Mils has only been in a few days but he has been pretty involved and you can tell he is eager to help out.
"We're looking forward to the opener against Dragons after a long pre-season and everyone is hoping we can put a string a good results together to start off."
Reporting by Patrick McCarry
