Having waited more than 18 months to make his Ireland debut, Ciarán Frawley's first cap eventually arrived earlier than he had expected.
A shoulder injury to Jimmy O'Brien in the opening half of Ireland's 33-17 win against Italy on Saturday saw the versatile Leinster back introduced at half time, and the 40 minutes he got to play at out-half at the Aviva Stadium was more than he had bargained for.
"It was unbelievable, very special," the 25-year-old said after winning his first Test cap, after some previous near-misses due to injury.
"It's been since November 2021 that I've been in and out of camp, so to finally get it was definitely worth the wait. I got the nod at half-time with Jimmy O'Brien picking up a bit of knock, thankfully he's alright, but it was nice to get the time I got."
Calvin Nash had an altogether different wait. Having watched Frawley and Tom Stewart introduced around the break, the Munster wing was the last man standing on the replacements bench before getting the nod to come on for Robbie Henshaw just after the hour mark.
"I saw Frawley getting on early and I was wondering when I'd get on, itching to go," he said.
"When I got the ball, I just wanted to get straight into the game and get as many touches as I could. It was class.
"I suppose being on the pitch for two seconds and nearly getting into a bit of a scrap was a bit funny, a good way to start and settle the nerves a tiny bit."
There was a neat symmetry to both Frawley and Nash getting to make their Test debuts alongside each other, the pair having roomed together at U20 level for Ireland before doing the same again this week.
Frawley is well established in the wider Irish squad by now, having come in initially in November 2021, and being a regular in the squad since, featuring in the midweek games for Ireland on their tour of New Zealand before starting for Ireland A last November.
A knee injury picked up in that game against an All Blacks XV led to four months on the sidelines which saw him miss out on the Six Nations squad, and he admits his debut has felt like a long time coming.
"I was probably close enough to getting capped and picked up an injury which I was sidelined for four months with.
"I went back into a Six Nations camp and was on the outskirts of that, probably knew I wasn't going to get capped then but my priority was to go back to Leinster, play well, try to get into this summer camp and aim for the World Cup. Delighted I got it tonight and hopefully there will be more to come, please God," Frawley (below) added.
For Nash, the rise to international rugby has been a more recent development. This time last year the wing was battling for regular starts with Munster, but enjoyed a career best season, scoring seven tries in 17 games, including one in the URC final win against Stormers.
The Limerick man's first real international break came when he impressed on the Emerging Ireland tour of South Africa back in September.
At the time, some questioned the value of the tour, which saw the provinces lose players during the early rounds of the URC, but Nash says it was a major pathway towards Test rugby.
"If it wasn't popular I still enjoyed it, and I thought it was a real chance for me to get in with the coaches and stuff, I hadn't any experience of chatting to them and I just felt this is a massive opportunity to get to know them and try show what I can do," said Nash, who turns 26 tomorrow.
"So for me it was a massive stepping stone and it was been very enjoyable getting to know Catty [Mike Catt], Si [Simon Easterby], Paulie [Paul O'Connell] that bit more and try to get that bit closer, obviously, to get into Irish camp.
"I think it stood to me and my development."
Neither player will relax with their sole cap for the time being, with sights set on making the final 33-man World Cup squad later this month.
"You obviously have the big picture in the back of your mind but if you get ahead of yourself, you might not perform on the day," added Frawley.
"This week, Andy gave us the nod Monday, which was great, settled the nerves a bit, but my goal was to make sure you put in a good performance and that way you put your best foot forward for selection.
"I just feel like regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, as long as I put my best foot forward, I can be happy and definitely know that I've developed as a player.
"But naturally, when we're after getting our first cap, we both want to push on and get to the World Cup and get a few more caps. That's the aim but all we can do is our best"
Likewise, Nash isn't getting distracted by the wider picture as he looks to catch the eye of Andy Farrell.
"As Frawley says, at the end of the day we're obviously up here for a reason as well and we're still playing rugby, it's just with a different jersey on.
"It's still rugby at the end of the day and we need to be confident in the work that we have done in the past and I suppose even if we do make mistakes or whatever, they're all development and their all learnings that we can bring forward.
"So as long as we have that kind of growth mindset as well everything that we do will stand to us," Nash added.
