Sean O'Brien pumped himself up in the Sportsground dressing room before kick-off on Saturday evening, anticipating that he may get summoned from the bench to enter the white heat of an inter-pro derby earlier than planned.
So it transpired. Rhys Ruddock injured his hip 25 minutes in, and O'Brien got the call.
Coming back into action for the first time since his 40-minute run against Treviso last April was always going to be tough. A physical home side were never going to make it an easy transition either.
Ultimately, O'Brien got through it unscathed, delighted to get precious minutes under his belt and hungry for more.
"It's great to be back," he said, reflecting on his welcome return to the fray.
"In the changing room I said to myself, 'someone could go down here early on and I'll have to slog my way through it'. But it was grand.
"There was no point in going on and running about like a headless chicken. It was just a case of getting into it. It was a tough game.
"They are a good attacking team. It was a great game to be involved in to get a good hit-out and get a good blowout."
Even more welcome than the sight of O'Brien being back on a rugby pitch was how his bones felt after the 20-3 victory.
The big games come thick and fast now, with Munster followed by back-to-back Champions Cup dates against Wasps and Toulouse. And it was a big relief for the Carlow man to wake up on Sunday morning feeling fresh.
"The body feels great," he said. "Hopefully I'll get more minutes this week and over the next few weeks.
"I'm as fit as I can be. I back myself to be playing but there are so many good players as well. It's good that we're driving each other and helping each other as well. It's a good place to be."
Leinster-Munster derby days are always big occasions - already nearly 45,000 tickets have been sold for this weekend's showdown - and O'Brien is braced for a mighty back-row arm wrestle.
That's not to mention the presence of one Joey Carbery, impressing in red and no doubt eager to shine against his old province. Leinster will be prepared for the threat.
"Munster have strength in depth in that back-row area," said O'Brien. "You look at who they have and what they can pick. You have Pete [O'Mahony] there who is obviously a menace around the place. That's the way he plays the game.
"[Chris] Cloete as well, CJ [Stander] does his thing with the ball in hand and Tommy O'Donnell is in great form as well.
"Joey will know a lot about us, but nothing Munster won't know about us already. One man won't be able to dictate a whole game. It'll be about negating him if he does well.
"These games are always exciting for both clubs. But the thing about this competition is there's no bad teams in it.
"Anyone can beat anyone on a good day."
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