In a couple of weeks' time, when Ireland are home from South Africa and Jack Crowley is winding down on the golf course, the out-half is going to reflect on a long and formative season.
This afternoon's second Test against the Springboks will be a 32nd game of the campaign for the Munster man, the highest number of games for any Irish player across the rugby calendar. Of that tally, 13 of those games will have been Test caps.
The 24-year-old now feels established in his position as the first choice Munster and Ireland out-half.
When he walked into Ireland’s World Cup training camp 13 months ago, he couldn’t have hoped for more from a developmental point of view, and he admits with the games coming so soon after each other, he’s yet to sit down and look back on where he started, and how far he’s come.
"There hasn’t been time [to reflect]," he says, when asked about a breakthrough season on the international front.
"In a few weeks when things die down I might get an opportunity to look back and see areas that I do need to work on or areas that went well and I can focus on other areas."
The full review will be done by the Corkman over a well-earned summer break, but the best way to learn, he says, is through game time.
"You have to learn unbelievably quickly, whether it is a win or loss.
"You have to move on quickly because the next game is quickly coming upon you, and before you know it 80 minutes is over and you are moving on to the next one. It is a quick machine.
"It has been good, I am very lucky that I got the opportunity throughout the year to play as many minutes as I did. In previous years I would have been looking for more minutes and I got them this year.
"It wasn’t all pretty, it was all pretty, it wasn’t all perfect. It’s up to me to learn from the things that weren’t as good as I wanted them to be and how I can make the team tick a little better."
Few Irish sportspeople had as big a weight on their shoulders as Crowley this season.
Irish rugby has always had a steady stream of out-halves, Eric Elwood to David Humphreys, and Humphreys to Ronan O’Gara, and O’Gara through to Johnny Sexton.
Taking over the 10 shirt from arguably Ireland’s greatest ever player would seem a daunting prospect to the average ten, and that's something his team-mates have been wary of.
"I remember saying to you guys that I didn’t envy the transition from filling Johnny’s boots coming into that role," Ireland’s Caelan Doris said of Crowley inheriting Sexton’s jersey.
"He probably pressurised himself a bit too much in terms of seeing what Johnny did and feeling that he had to do that. So we tried to take the weight off his shoulders a bit by telling him focus on his game and that everything else would grow as he got more experienced.
"We’ve seen that growth in terms of how starting to lead the team, in terms of how he’s talking in huddles in training, in terms of the mini-conversations around the laptops and things like that so there’s definitely been an evolution and he’s becoming way more comfortable in the role and becoming a leader himself."
Sexton’s influence is still there, and Crowley (below) says he’s regularly been in contact with the former Ireland captain for guidance, while his old Bandon Grammar schools coach Regis Sonnes has also been a sounding board.
Confidence and authority are two staples of an out-half's personality, and the vice-like handshakes he delivered as he sat down with a gaggle of Irish journalists in uMhlanga this week indicates he has plenty of both.
Those who have seen the content produced by Access Munster would have witnessed some of that confidence in action, while in the moments before last Saturday’s first Test in Durban, it was he who was delivering the final messages in the huddle prior to kick-off.
"A lot of the time I’d like my play to show the work that you put in during the week.
"Sometimes, you just get a feeling that there’s a message that needs to be delivered and it’s a part of growing into that role – being able to lead the attack and on top of it always and never taking a backward step. No, it was just a message that we felt needed to be delivered."
It was his attacking intent, and willingness to bring the ball to the gainline that got Crowley noticed, but this season in particular we’ve seen the defensive side of his game flourish.
In last week’s first Test, it was his covering tackle on Cheslin Kolbe which held the winger up when it looked like he was breaking through to score, while he’s also looked comfortable with meatier forwards running down his channel, looking to give a young out-half his wings.
"I know from watching out-halves it is certainly a channel that gets targeted because teams go after the source of the ball, they do try and impact that.
"You’re part of a chain and you have to do your part and make a tackle. Sometimes you are in the backfield and have to cover. It’s an expectation to make your tackles and not be holding back the rest of the backline, in that they have to think about you not making your tackle or having to help you out, then it might have an impact on what they do out wide.
"I always want to be able to make my hits and do my part for the team in our defensive system," he added.
Nine Ireland starts, a Six Nations title, and a clean sweep of the URC’s end of season awards are evidence enough that it’s been a season to remember for Crowley, who is hoping to cap it off win a win over the world champions in Durban this afternoon.
By his own admission, he’s still rough around the edges. His performance for Munster in their final regular season win over Ulster was a prime example, where he made costly errors in terms of his discipline and kicking from hand, before recovering to play a key role in their comeback win.
Place-kicking is also an area where he’s striving for consistency. His record in the Six Nations was a modest 74%, while in last week’s first Test he missed three from five, including a simple penalty from the left of the posts in the opening half.
"I suppose, it’s the continuous battle, isn’t it?" he says of the strive for consistency off the tee.
"You always want to get them over, and you know the impact that it can have on the group and that’s why in the week you prepare so much. You want it to work out at the weekend.
"You want them to go over for yourself, for the work you put in, for the coaches that help you with your technique and stuff. Same as every part of our game, you want to see that element paying off.
"And look, when you do miss one, you try and get over it as soon as possible and you try and learn but also, you’ve got to get back into whatever’s happening next. That’s the beauty of it – it’s so individual, the kick, but then you’re immediately back into a collective and you’ve got lads around you who will give you a pat on the shoulder and say, 'Forget it about it, next one.’"
While the young out-half will be frustrated with his radar last week, the wider fact is that the game was won and lost through Ireland’s sluggishness in defence in the first half, and some carelessness off restarts in the second.
Every time South Africa looked like pulling clear, Ireland wrestled them back to within a score, and it’s that resilience that gives Crowley confidence they can level the series in Durban this evening.
"It’s everything, it’s something that we have always prided ourselves on in this jersey, it is always a fight that we put up.
"You want to perform, that’s the first priority. When you are not doing that, you don’t ever tap out, no matter what way you are performing; things mightn’t be working out but tapping out is not something that we regard as an action for this team.
"That’s something, that we will always stay in the fight, it might not be pretty, but we know that we are playing [for people] back home that has supported us over the last number of years. At certain times we might not have performed but people stuck with us. The Irish public have been incredible with the support they give us.
"There isn’t a single moment in which we would think of throwing in the towel."
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