Joe Schmidt, we know, never forgets but for some, John Ryan might have been considered a forgotten man.
The 30-year-old Munster tighthead played in the opening game of 2018 Six Nations against France and made an appearance against Wales but it was Andrew Porter who was preferred as back-up to Tadhg Furlong for the Grand Slam run-in.
Ryan went on the tour to Australia last summer and played twice, including a start in the first Test.
But when New Zealand rolled into town he wasn’t required and then saw Finlay Bealham get the number 3 jersey the following week for the win over the USA.
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By the time the opening game of this year's campaign came around he still couldn’t break into the 23, same for the trip to Scotland.
But since then he’s got 18 minutes in Rome and a healthy 25 minutes last Sunday against France.
If that was the plan – to give him some game time no matter how Porter was playing – then Ryan was not in on it.
"Joe keeps his cards close enough to his chest," the prop told RTÉ Sport.
"He won’t tell you what to expect because if you know what’s coming are you going to put in the same effort you would have if you don’t know?"
That suggests that, for a player who vies with Stephen Archer for a starting spot at Munster, the 'talking' must have been done on the training pitch.
"There’s a bit of bite to training always, especially in those live scrums and that’s the area where we get most of our chances to show what we can do," he said.
"It definitely gives me a bit of confidence," he adds when asked about the stop-start nature of this international career.
"I’ve been in and out since 2016 so there’s a battle there always. You are always looking over your shoulder, there is more than Andrew Porter and Finlay Bealham, and there are more [players] further afield.
"It’s really competitive at tighthead compared to what it was in previous years. I’m delighted where I am now and I hope I can keep the performances up and drive it on."
And just what does Ryan, 117kgs and just over 6ft, put his latest reincarnation down to?
"My overall fitness is probably number one [area I’ve been working on] but my ball-carrying [has improved]
"I wouldn’t have been a big ball-carrier but when you see the likes of Cian Healy and Dave Kilcoyne and Tadhg carrying a lot, it’s an area you need to have.
"You can't just scrummage and do your job in defence, you need to add to your game. I’ve had a few in the last few weeks but I think it has improved a good bit."
With Schmidt set to name his team tomorrow to face Wales on Saturday, Ryan, a former CBC Cork student, is hoping that the boss sticks rather than twists again.
"I don’t know the team for the weekend, I don’t know if I’ll be involved but fingers crossed it will stay the way it has been."
Follow Wales v Ireland on Saturday (kick-off 2.45pm) via the live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the News Now App, or listen live on RTÉ 2fm, with commentary from Michael Corcoran and Donal Lenihan.
