At 6 foot 11 inches aged 27, Devin Toner couldn't get any taller, but he could get smarter and that’s what he did.
He was 24 when he made his Ireland debut and following three caps in the autumn of 2010 had to wait three more years for his next appearance in green.
But by the 2014 Six Nations he was a nailed-on starter for Joe Schmidt as he developed into exactly the type of player the New Zealander was looking for.
The usual trajectory of a man of Toner’s physical attributes would be to become a better player through experience but as he edged closer to 30 than 20 he was able to expand his skillset and became a crucial part of the international set-up, more often than not getting the nod ahead of more fashionable options.
It’s not a coincidence that the Meath man won the majority of his 70 caps during Ireland’s most successful period as they won three Six Nations titles, beat New Zealand for the first time and won a tour in Australia.
Toner, who yesterday announced his intention to retire at the end of the season, recalled that period.
"It didn’t just happen overnight," he tells RTÉ Sport, even if on the outside it looked that way.
"It doesn’t happen anymore that it takes time to bed in because lads are coming on the scene and they are ready for international rugby as soon as they leave school.
"I do remember getting more into it and getting more game time, in and around my Six Nations where I was starting in 2014.
"In around 12, 13, 14, I was starting off with Leinster, then starting with Ireland. It was probably around those years that I started to kick on.
"I don’t have any reason why. I didn’t try to focus on anything in particular.
I just focussed on me and my job. I knew I was dependable.
"To get to international level as a second row you need to nail your basics, which I thankfully did.
"Lineout was one of my strengths and I was quite dependable on restarts, then you look after your ruck, your breakdown, your defence then, it’s just those subsequent things that come in, like carrying, offloading.
"I was never the biggest off-loader or biggest carrier but when I did, I was dependable so I suppose that’s why I was getting picked."
Leinster head coach Leo Cullen says Toner, who made his provincial bow in 2006, benefited from a hunger to learn and the fact that he was surrounded by experienced second rows who were generous with their time and knowledge.
"He had Cheiks [Michael Cheika] as a coach for five years and he would have played Devin a lot in his younger years," said Cullen, whose side face Connacht in Galway in the URC on Friday night.
"Dev was picking up bits and pieces from older locks, Hinesy [Nathan Hines], Brad Thorn, Malcolm O’Kelly.
"He’d learn plenty and then he’s knocking around Irish camp with the likes of Paul O’Connell, Donncha O’Callaghan.
"Joe becomes Irish coach and there’s that period where Ireland are very successful and Devin is sort of a key component because of his understanding of the pieces of Joe’s game that were required.
"He gets more and more confidence from doing it and because he’s more consistent by being available week on week you saw that in his performances."
There was quite a lot of scrolling down required to read all of Toner’s honours when the email arrived yesterday.
Leinster’s record caps holder with 276 (and more to come), Toner has won the Champions Cup four times, a Challenge Cup the Pro / URC title seven times.
Asked to pick out a highlight, probably an unfair if obvious question, Toner said: "There are so many. You could say the four Heineken Cups but for Leinster the European Cup in 2018 would have been my favourite, because I started the whole campaign and the final.
"That year in general was huge. We won the Grand Slam with Ireland, the double with Leinster, we went to Australia and we won there.
"With Ireland you can’t really look past the game in Chicago [2016] against the All Blacks and then to beat them at home [2018] was brilliant.
"My first Six Nations win in 2014 was huge, that’s up there as one of my favourites, winning it against France in the Stade de France, one of my first campaigns that I played a lot of rugby."
Toner wants to grab two more pieces of silverware, a fifth star and a URC title, before he hangs up his boots and made the decision to announce his retirement now to avoid it getting in the way of the serious business over the next couple of months.
He admits to some trepidation about what’s to come in the rugby afterlife and, while he’s definitely step away from rugby in the short term, he hasn’t ruled out a coaching role in the future.
"I’ve only known one thing since I left school and I left school in 2004," he says.
"People say you get institutionalised.
"You are told where to be, when to be, when to do it, what to wear and what to do. It’s going to be a lot different but I am looking forward to it.
"I’m in the middle of exams, I’m doing a QFA [Qualified Financial Adviser] so I think I’m getting into the finance world, client relationships, partnerships kind of thing.
"I’ll take a little bit of a break. I always thought that the coaching world was not for me. I think over the last five years with my family but my missus has been with me for 16 years, professional rugby takes a huge toll on family life and I think I owe it to them to take a step back.
"You are away every weekend and your wife or partner takes the burden on everything, taking care of kids... you’ve got to do the unselfish thing and try and give back.
"A coach’s life is nearly worse than a player’s life because they are at every game and doing all the hours under the sun.
"You never know what might crop up in a year or so."
It’s a well-earned break and Toner will have no shortage of offers if and when he decides to pass on some of that knowledge.
