Few have come further faster than Jack Crowley.
Uncapped this time last year, the West Cork man has shot to the top of the queue to back up Ireland out-half Johnny Sexton.
In direct contrast to Joey Carbery, who you'll remember kicked the ball off the pitch at the end of both winning Tests against New Zealand as Ireland began their record winning run in July 2022, Crowley has usurped a handful of Irish 10s to become a frontrunner should Sexton's body succumb to the rigours of savage World Cup demands.
Name-checked by Andy Farrell as one squad member who had made up the most ground, Crowley could play a major role in Ireland's Webb Ellis tilt.
Carbery, Billy Burns and Jack Carty had the experience, Harry Byrne and Ciarán Frawley had hopes but it was Crowley, and Ross Byrne, who have impressed the head coach most in the last 12 months.
It's worth looking back over the last year to see how exactly he rose up the ranks.
Wary that many of Crowley's peers had missed out on important rugby game time due to pandemic restrictions, the IRFU resurrected the 'A' team in 2022, with Emerging Ireland playing a three-match tour in South Africa and Ireland 'A' taking on an All Blacks XV at the RDS.
Crowley, who prior to that run of games, had played 16 times for Munster, starting just five of those following a senior debut in January 2021.
Then under Johann van Graan, the southern province were flush in the position. Carbery, JJ Hanrahan and Ben Healy were established, while Jake Flannery was also in the mix.
But what Farrell and the rest of the Irish management saw in those 'A' matches propelled the Innishannon man on an incredible journey.
The 23-year-old started twice and kicked nine conversions from nine as Ireland won all three games in South Africa.
Without referring directly to Crowley, Farrell said of that tour, questioned by some at the time: "Have a look at what's come from that, the experience of sending a kid over to grasp what it takes to be an international player and seeing how they run with that experience for the rest of the season.
"Can they make it into the first team in their province and not just start but thrive in that type of pressure?"
Farrell soon called Crowley, who also featured off the bench against an All Blacks XV, into the senior squad for the November internationals.
He replaced Carbery to make his debut against Fiji, seeing out a 35-17 win, and was primed to sit on the bench for the following week's match-up with Australia.
However, an injury in the warm-up to Sexton saw Crowley thrust into the battle from the start and the Cork man kicked five points in a 13-10 victory.
Replacement Byrne came on to land the winning penalty, a moment that pushed the Leinster man up the pecking order and he became the understudy to Sexton for the Six Nations Grand Slam campaign.
Back at Munster, Graham Rowntree had taken over from Van Graan and there was also a sense of the sands shifting for Crowley, who stands 6ft 1in and weighs in at 14st.
Last season he played 20 times, which included 14 starts, seven at out-half, six at first centre and one at full-back. Essentially, he had to play.
And as the club's season reached the business end, the momentum swung back and while Munster weaved an incredibly unlikely route to ultimate URC success, Leinster, with Byrne in for the injured Sexton, floundered.
Crowley, with his side losing a URC semi-final by two points with two minutes to play, dropped into position and kicked the winning drop goal against Leinster without a second's hesitation.
His break ultimately led to Munster's first try in the final against the Stormers and his cross-kick set up their second. He was involved in the winning try and kicked four points.
"Sometimes it takes a change of coaches to really give you the opportunity and I believe that Graham Rowntree and Andy Farrell like the way he plays the game," Jonny Holland, the former Munster out-half and now a coach with Crowley’s AIL club Cork Constitution, tells RTÉ Sport.
"Jack was ready to take the opportunities once they came his way because he was working so hard in the background.
"He's been in Cork Con kicking with us in between URC games and even during his break following his international debut.
"There's a lot of hard work and obsession behind Jack's game. His attacking game, decision-making at the tackle line and athleticism probably gave him the nod over Ben Healy, even though Ben's kicking was challenging Jack a lot at the time.
"His confidence and trajectory of performances probably gave the Munster coaches the opportunity to pick him ahead of Joey Carbery but it was really the exposure in the Emerging Ireland tour in South Africa that got him on Andy Farrell and Mike Catt's radar, which in turn changed the landscape at Munster too."
The "hard work" ethic rings a bell for Régis Sonnes (above), the former Bordeaux and Toulouse coach, who came across the fourth-year schoolboy while coaching at Bandon Grammar, a man who Crowley recently cited as a big influence on his career.
Sonnes doesn’t recall the teenager he met as a superstar in the making.
"A hard worker, I love using this word because, for me, the West Cork man is a hard worker. It’s part of their culture," the Frenchman, who has recently returned to Bandon RFC and Bandon Grammar to "finish the adventure", tells RTÉ Sport.
"I remember those days but it’s perhaps curious, Jack was one of the best on the team but not an incredible player. It was clear he was a leader.
"Now Jack has grown with the level. His mentality is huge, he’s a hard worker. He knows what he wants to do.
"I remember when we were doing individual evaluations with the lads. He said in two years I want to be with the Irish [underage] team.
"It’s difficult, I said, but why not? If you train hard, sure. But he worked hard and his mentality is strong and when the level grows, he grows with it. Some players are like that."
Crowley won Munster and All-Ireland U18 titles with Bandon RFC after his school days, during which he brought the team to the Munster Senior Cup semi-final.
A move to Cork Constitution followed in 2019 where he was able to hone his craft in the AIL and he starred for Ireland U20s (above) in 2020, claiming a Triple Crown before the campaign was cut short due to Covid-19 restrictions.
"When he played with the school or club, he was one of the best players, almost always the MVP. When he moved to Ireland Under-20s it was my first surprise," adds Sonnes.
"He was also man of the match in these games. ‘What’s happening with him,’ I thought. All the time he was growing, he improved his mentality and confidence."
Holland, who mentions Bandon and Cork Con coach Paul Barr as a big influence on Crowley, remembers the first time he saw him at training at Temple Hill.
"He stood at the back of the attack with me for a few minutes to get his eye on the shape we were running and thrust himself into action soon after," he recalls.
"He didn't really hesitate. The shape wouldn't have been simple either, but he just went with it and did really well.
"I was impressed immediately. He's still the same when he's putting on a Munster or Irish jersey, at least from the outside looking in anyway.
"He's confident without being arrogant and very open minded when talking about the game.
"He'd talk about the game all night long but not for his own voice to be heard, he's mad to listen and learn."
Crowley started two of the warm-up games, against Italy and Samoa, and came on at full-back in the win over England. He now has six caps.
When Farrell names his match-day panel on Thursday to take on Romania in Ireland's World Cup opener in six days' time, assuming Sexton is, as expected, selected to start, the back-up fly-half call will be intriguing.
"I’m so happy for him," adds Sonnes.
"He’s now a clutch player, with that drop goal against Leinster, when he came into the Irish team, it’s incredible for me to see his progress. Like I say, he’s well able to step up.
"I’m proud. He knows what he wants to do and where he wants to go. He’s working hard and training hard for it.
"I can’t say [if he is the back-up to Sexton] because I don’t see the training sessions but I know Jack is on the right road."
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