For much of November, there was an air of mystery around Johnny Sexton's role in the Irish squad.
With no official announcement, or no details of his position on the Irish Rugby website, the nature of when and what he was doing in camp puzzled some.
Bit by bit, we are getting a clearer picture of what the former Ireland captain is adding, or is at least attempting to add.
Primarily working with the Irish out-halves, Ireland’s record points scorer is dipping in and out of camp, while also lending his hand to wider areas of the coaching team.
The Ireland squad return from their warm-weather Six Nations camp in Portugal today after a week in the Algarve, where Sexton was with them for a portion of the trip.
"For us coaches, he's got such a great eye on the game," Ireland’s attack coach Andrew Goodman said.
"Personally, myself, I run things past him and I love him because he's honest and he'll provide his own opinion on things as well and that always leads to discussion and debate and then ultimately you get to a really good spot."
And the former Leinster assistant joked that Sexton is also handy for some off-the-pitch activities in camp.
"He's great to have around, apart from being a great padel partner - he's sharp on the courtside and I try to get in with him as much as I can."
When his new role was first revealed back in November, there was one school of thought that his presence might prove too overbearing.
As a player, Sexton was well-known for having high standards and demanding a lot of his team-mates, with some believing that Sam Prendergast, Jack Crowley and Ciarán Frawley would be better learning in the job themselves.
But Goodman has no such fears.
"He's doing the coaching with the kicking and mental [skills] with the 10s," he said.
"Who could you ask better for a young Irish number 10 to have Johnny Sexton around, watching training with you and giving you live feedback in training and everything else.
"Not just the 10s though, he's been a great leader for this country as a captain so with a new captain in the group and some younger leaders coming through as well, it's a massive, important year."
Despite fears that Sexton’s retirement would leave Ireland scrambling around for their next out-half, the emergence of Prendergast and Crowley in particular has allayed those concerns.
Crowley picked up the 10 shirt at the start of 2024, before Prendergast climbed up to first choice in the final games of the year. In the middle of all of that, Frawley had a match-winning cameo in Ireland’s second Test win against South Africa in Durban.
And Goodman is excited by the healthy rivalry emerging between the trio.
"It's quite laughable to see how they operate, I'm seeing them every day and he [Sexton] has been in touch with them most weeks through the provincial European games," added the 42-year-old.
"They have a great laugh together, the young number 10s all work well together and there's often times they're together chewing the fat around the game.
"It's a massive benefit for them and the team and their provinces as well.
"There's definitely a rivalry. You've got to get the balance right of coming in and competing, but ultimately when the team is named and one is in the team, one's on the bench and one's not going to be playing... so when you get to that stage you've got to help those guys perform as best you can.
"That's what being a great team member and it's something I've learnt a lot about since coming into this Irish environment."
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