As Caelan Doris dived over the line to score Ireland's fifth and final try in Saturday's 33-17 win against Italy, Jack Crowley lay in a crumpled pile on the floor.
The out-half took a heavy, late tackle as he shipped the ball out to Keith Earls in the build-up to the score, and missed out on the chance at kicking a fourth conversion as Ciarán Frawley tapped over the extras while the Munster man received treatment.
Thankfully, it was nothing but a rib-tickler, and Crowley was able to dust himself off and play out the final minutes of the win as Ireland got their World Cup preparations up and running with a comfortable, if at times 'clunky', win, to quote head coach Andy Farrell.
That passage of play summed up the 22-year-old's performance on his fourth cap, and second start.
On a number of occasions throughout the game he felt the brunt of tacklers in the split-seconds after a pass, showing real bravery to hold onto the ball for as long as possible before delivering the pass.
"Jack did well, certainly in the first half he controlled the game very well," head coach Andy Farrell said of the out-half's display.
It was Crowley's (above) second start for Ireland but the circumstances around it were in stark contrast to his first outing in the No 10 shirt, when he was drafted in as a late replacement for Johnny Sexton in the November win against Australia.
And Farrell believes he benefitted from being able to run the team's attacking plans at training during the week.
"I didn't think he overplayed too much and looked composed enough. There's a few things we'll chat about in the week that'll help his performance but he'll be glad to get that done.
"It's another experience where he's started at ten, and this time he's been able to run the week. He'll gain massive confidence from that."
In the second half Crowley dropped back to full-back after the injury to Jimmy O'Brien, allowing Frawley come in to out-half, although both players were popping up in the position at times as the game wore on.
The contest became scattered in the second 40 with both sides making use of their bench early in the game, and Farrell says it's something they'll need to work on.
"We'll have a look at the performances of them [Crowley and Frawley] playing together, we tried to get two ball-players playing together, whether that came to fruition I'm not too sure at this moment in time.
"We started the second-half pretty poorly, and didn't really get going for a while, so we'll have a look at that."
Crowley was one of several players with an opportunity to stake their claim for a World Cup place, and his performance has put some pressure on Ross Byrne to take his chance if presented with it against England when Ireland get back to action on 12 August.
Another who was given the chance to show Farrell his worth was Jacob Stockdale (above), making his first Test appearance in two years, and the Ulster wing was prominent throughout.
With 17 carries for a team-high 169 metres he was a constant threat when he had the ball in his hands, and showed his aerial ability with a stunning catch off a Craig Casey box-kick which almost led to a try in the 20th minute.
However, the frustration came in defence, as he slipped off the tackle of Lorenzo Pani for Italy's opening try.
"A lot of good, and some bits that he'll hope to tidy up," Farrell said in assessment of the 27-year-old.
"It's two years from his last start. It would have been a big day for Jacob so he’ll be better for the experience for sure."
The Ireland head coach will no doubt have had a rough sketch of his potential 33-man squad in his head before Saturday's game, but several players fringe players will have given him something to consider ahead of the game against England later this month.
Cian Prendergast got 45 minutes of rugby under his belt and almost played Calvin Nash in for a late try with a brilliant offload, Craig Casey's delivery was on point and his quick-thinking off a penalty baited Danilo Fischetti into picking up a yellow card, while Joe McCarthy teamed up brilliantly with Iain Henderson in the second row and seemed to get better as the game went on.
The Irish squad will head for warm-weather training in Portugal next week as they ramp up their preparations ahead of their remaining warm-up games with England and Samoa, before Farrell will name his 33-man group for the World Cup.
