In a campaign where Ireland boss Andy Farrell handed out 11 Six Nations debuts, none was more left field than Darragh Murray.
The Connacht lock had two caps to his name from last summer's Georgia and Portugal tour and was called into the Six Nations squad as a cover player.
As the Ireland XV squad got ready to face England 'A' the day after the France v Ireland game, Murray was held back to help the senior team's preparations.
There he stayed, working diligently in the background waiting for his chance.
And when word, delivered by forwards coach Paul O'Connell, came through early last week that James Ryan had been unable to shake off a calf injury suffered in the win over Wales, Murray's time had arrived.
"I found out on Tuesday evening, Paulie told me. I was [like] 'OK' because I was running Scotland lineouts on the Monday so I had to flick over to our lineouts, it was great," said the 24-year-old from Roscommon (above) after their 43-21 win over Scotland.
"We’ve been running our own plays for the last couple of weeks. So the lads took me under their wing and guided me through, we had walk-throughs whenever we needed it.
"Look, I got called in as cover at the time and I took it as it came.
"It’s been unreal, getting to learn off James Ryan, Tadhg Beirne, Joe McCarthy, their experience is unbelievable, what they taught me is class.
"[Paulie's] been unbelievable. Like Irish history, like, he’s an unbelievable operator and he’s helped so much through calling and lineouts and everything.
"Just the detail he goes into for lads to get better, like, no-one else could see it, but he'll see it. It's just been class.
"He's always encouraging you; keep going and get better. It's just been great for me."
Named on the bench, Murray got called into action when Beirne was withdrawn to deal with a cut on his head in the 51st minute.
Six minutes later the Six Nations debutant had his first senior try.
Incredibly, the lineout specialist had never dotted down for Connacht in 51 games, although he had a try to his name for Ireland XV against Spain.
With Ireland leading by five points, they manufactured a 17-phase move that ended with Murray (below) neatly stepping inside his man and powering over close to the line.
"I was ready to go," he said of the unexpected cameo.
"I saw Tadhg [Beirne] had blood so we got ready then.
"And sometimes it's kind of nice to get in for 10 minutes just to get into it and then you come back off. I was on fairly quick after that as well.
"I don’t know how [the try] happened but it happened.
"I got there in the end, the lads got into it and big Joe had a great carry and handed the ball back to me and I just got over the line, great.
"It’s definitely up there, it’s surreal at the moment, it has to kick in. It was class at the time, the atmosphere was unreal out there."
Murray went back to the bench after Beirne returned but came back on for McCarthy with 15 minutes to go.
Across his 26 minutes he took one lineout catch, blocked down a kick and made eight tackles.
As championship debuts go it couldn't have gone much better, with a Triple Crown the icing on the cake.
The Buccaneers clubman added: "That was special, that was. Even after the game, just letting it all sink in, taking in the crowd, unbelievable.
"You just look around, and the stadium is still full. Jeez, this is what you want to be part of.
"I think my Dad was shouting and kicking after I scored.
"Mam and Dad…a lot of sacrifices growing up.
"There are four of us in the family, I don’t think they had a weekday on their own, they’d always be on the road for us, it’s got us to where we are, I’m really thankful for what they’ve done for us.
"It's just a special feeling, and going out there on the pitch, it's just class."
Watch all the weekend's highlights on Against the Head, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, 8pm
