Scott Fardy arrived on these shores hungry for silver.
"You don’t come to a club like Leinster, unless you want to come and win trophies," he declared last autumn, having moved to the RDS in the summer.
This, then, is the week he's been waiting, for. It's crunch time.
Scarlets come to town on Saturday with a place in the Champions Cup final up for grabs. Leinster are fancied to turn them over at the Aviva Stadium, having been so impressive in their destruction of Saracens in the last eight.
But the Welshmen are desperate to spoil the party - as they did in the Pro12 semi-final at the RDS last year - and 33-year-old second row Fardy is keeping his eyes on the prize.
"You want to try to win trophies - you shouldn’t be playing if you don’t want to do that, " he said, reflecting on disappointments he suffered with previous club the Brumbies.
"You should be competing for trophies and I’ve been close on a number of occasions.
"I think I played in the finals in Super Rugby every year except one where we lost the last game. I’ve been close a number of times. Obviously close is not good enough.
"We lost the 2013 Super final (against the Chiefs) after being up by about 10 points I think. We’d a bit of a dodgy scrum decision or something and they turned it around.
"I've lost a few semi-finals." And one massive final.
Australian Fardy played in the 2015 World Cup decider against New Zealand, which the All Blacks won 34-17.
Losses like that scar players but force them to evolve in certain ways too. Fardy is a pragmatic man and knows that the only person you can control in pressure-cooker environments is yourself.
"I guess I’m not feeling that pressure from people outside, I’m just focused on what I need to do on a weekly basis," he added.
"Scarlets play such an entertaining brand of rugby, always on the edge of everything they do. They go hard at everything.
"I think it’s due to be dry and sunny in the Aviva on Saturday so I think you’ll see a very quick game. The way the Scarlets play, like a Kiwi side, they play with a lot of width. It will be a very entertaining game."
Champions Cup teams are only allowed a maximum of two "non-Europeans" in their panel, though the ruling gives special status to South African and Pacific Island players, meaning they fall into that category.
The upshot is that it means that James Lowe looks like he'll be squeezed out of the reckoning for Saturday, with Fardy and Kiwi Jamison Gibson-Park being the chosen pair.
And Fardy is playing like a man determined to make the very most of the opportunities coming his way. Surrounded by young talent popping with energy, he's happy to feed off the enthusiasm of the new batch.
"I definitely won’t be here for ever. I’m getting a bit long in the tooth according to a lot of people here.
"But I think it’s trying to make that shelf-life as long as possible. Look at the guys coming into the squad now, there are a number of guys in their early 20s who are out-and-out starters in the team.
"I knew it was a very talented club, then when I got here I learned more about the individuals and how good they are.
"The careers of Dan Leavy and James Ryan have exploded and it's great to see them play so many big games this early in their career.
"I understand I’ve to do my role, just got to make sure I’m ticking my boxes through the week.
"I’ve not looked any further than this week."
Follow Leinster v Scarlets via our live blog on RTÉ.ie and the News Now App (kick-off 3.30pm), or hear live updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport. Follow Racing 92 v Munster (kick-off 3.15pm) via our live blog or listen to live and exclusive radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1's Sunday Sport.
