Six games into his Ulster career, a grand total of 130 minutes on the pitch and already Bradley Roberts is becoming something of a cult hero among the Kingspan faithful.
Signed up as injury cover from AIL Division 2A side Rainey Old Boys at the back end of 2020, the South African hooker made five appearances off the bench in the Pro14 last season.
And as Ulster welcomed back fans to Ravenhill on Friday night, he scored his side's second try in the United Rugby Championship win over Glasgow.
The 25-year-old has taken the road less travelled to win representative honours with the province.
After leaving Durban Preparatory High School, Roberts, who has Welsh ancestry, moved to the Principality hoping to start his career as a professional.
"I was only a 19-year-old boy in Wales and I had intentions of going back there," Roberts, who hopes to feature in Saturday’s URC game away to Zebre, told RTÉ Sport.
"I went home on a holiday to get an ancestorial visa which would allow me to play in Wales because I was on a sports visitor's visa and I couldn’t play because it was semi-pro at the time.
"I went home and got asked to go to Natal Sharks training, which was my local team, a big achievement for me. I trained with them and ended up getting selected for the Under-19 team there and it was going well.
"We had an average season but I was playing well. I hoped they would sign me on but that didn’t work out. That’s basically when I kind of decided rugby wasn’t for me but I always wanted to take the next step but it never really happened."
Just when it looked like he would have to pursue other avenues outside of rugby, the wheels started to turn on his Irish journey.
"I was contacted by a friend of mine in South Africa, he had this guy, a hooker, out there, he said he wants to play in Ireland, what do you think?" Rainey Old Boys director of rugby Brian Smyth told RTÉ Sport.
"The minute I saw him on video, highlights from his school days, I knew he was a professional rugby player.
"He did everything and of course we’d take him on so with help from Benjy van der Byl we got him."
Rainey, where former Italy international Ian McKinley is now head coach, just missed out of promotion from 2C in his first year, 2017/18, but up they went the next season with the bombastic front rower voted as the division’s player of the season by all the clubs.
Tom McKeon at Barnhall and Brad were "miles ahead of anyone else", said Smyth.
But impressing at club level and making the next step are two separate matters. All this time Roberts played hard, trained hard, and put in shifts in a coffee shop in Magherafelt and had enough time to study online.
"I was playing in the All-Ireland League for three years, obviously I had ambitions to play but I was never Irish-qualified," added Roberts, who stands just over 5’ 7" tall.
"I got my ancestorial visa through my Welsh heritage on my dad’s side. So I wasn’t Irish-qualified at the time but the longer I stayed it became a goal of mine to try and get into the Ulster set-up but it was hard because I wasn’t Irish-qualified.
"I always wanted to take the next step but I didn’t really know how it would happen. I was just playing hard every week and hoping for the best. Eventually, I got a little gap and made the most of it.
"[The biggest difference is] definitely the intensity and the speed.
"I’ve always been a physical player, that’s never been an issue for me. It’s just basically the speed of play and how quickly things happen, you have to adapt quicker and make decisions.
"It’s very gruelling, trying to take the next step. I’ve adjusted well but it’s taken time for my body to adapt and maintain a high level throughout the game. The longest I’ve played is 40 minutes and it’s a tough 40.
"I’m just taking it game-by-game but I do have goals and ambitions to take the next step. But the way I see it you just have to take each game as it comes, play well and the rest will sort itself out. I’ll try to make the most of it and you never know."
Despite being a late-comer to the professional game, Roberts reckons it’s a pathway that will serve him well, his body spared the punishment of five years of professional front row pain.
"I wouldn’t change it for a thing, everything happens when and where it’s supposed to," said Roberts, who counts team-mates Ian Madigan and Angus Curtis as golf buddies.
"I’ve loved my transition now.
"Only making it as a professional now has done wonders for my body.
"I was able to transition into my fully grown body without having the stress of playing professional rugby week in, week out.
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"My body is still fresh at 25 whereas lots of guys would be starting to feel the effects of playing professional rugby since they were 18 so I don’t have any hard feelings, I don’t like to dwell on the past. I’m just happy where I am at the moment."
For Rainey Old Boys, Roberts’ progression has been a source of great pride, a cherry on top of all the hard work that has seen the Co Derry side go from strength to strength in recent years.
Their minis got to play at half-time in Kingspan last weekend, thrilled when their local hero came over to say hello.
"His late father was his driving force since he was young and he always told him he would make it, and thankfully he did," said Smyth, whose side welcome Old Crescent to Hatrick Park on Saturday for their opening AIL Division 2A game.
"He has no airs and graces and deserves everything he gets.
"He was too good for our level. Ulster needed hooker cover and he never looked back."
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