By this stage last season, Jack Carty had quite a few more miles on the clock.
It was actually this fixture 12 months ago - the Christmas Interpro against Ulster - that the Connacht captain first got a chance to rest, and that was only because of the Covid-19 outbreak in the Ulster squad which saw the game postponed until February.
Carty started all nine of Connacht's games last season prior to Christmas, but the addition of David Hawkshaw to the province's out-half stock has afforded a bit more rest this season, and he's hoping he can make it count as the season progresses.
Wrist surgery over the summer saw him sit out the first three BKT United Rugby Championship games of the season, but he returned to start the next six in a row, punctuated nicely by the international break in November.
And with Andy Friend rotating his squad for the Challenge Cup wins against Newcastle Falcons and Brive this month, it's afforded Carty the opportunity to get some running repairs done; a PRP injection on a foot issue that had been bothering him in recent weeks.
"I was managing it for the last six or seven weeks, and when there was a period of time available, I got it done and had to take a two-week break," the Connacht captain said.
"They take blood out of your arm, they spin it and separate the plasma in your blood and re-inject it back in, to promote healing. I got that done down in Cork with Eanna Falvey and it wasn't the most pleasant now, it was quite sore, but I’m hoping it will help."
The rest has been an unusual, but welcome one for the out-half, who the province have had to lean on heavily in recent years.
And he believes that his delayed start to the season, and mid-season breaks, will allow him peak at the business end of the season.
"It's a nice change-up to this time last year.
"You want to play every game but the ability to knock out 8/10 performances every week, it can be quite difficult.
"I think previous years, I would have been peaking around December and January, I would have seen it previously myself, I'd have a lot of rugby played. I’m 30 now, I need to be managed in a smarter manner.
"You come back reinvigorated. I’d like to think I can consistently hit them eight, nine, tens [out of 10] in small little chunks as opposed to trying to hit them for 10 weeks on the bounce.
"When I was younger I'd have hated anyone going in to play at 10, and it would have been a massive anxiety around it, a constant worry, but I think with the extra years on me, there’s an awareness that you can’t [play] every game, but when you do play, you play to a level that enables you to be picked the following week."
Likewise, he believes Connacht are on course to hit their peak as a team later in the campaign.
This season has been a slow build, but it appears to be moving in the right direction. After three defeats in a row to start the campaign - and all away from home - they've now won six of their last eight, but face tough assignments in the next 10 days, first welcoming Ulster to the Sportsground before another derby away to Leinster on New Year's Day.
With their South African tour already behind them and the New Year's Day clash against Leinster being their final derby of the URC regular season, the fixture list for the second half of the season is favourable on paper.
And while they looked jaded in the final third of last season, Carty thinks that their added depth will allow them to stay on an upward trajectory, particularly in attack.
"I think you're going to see us hit our peak in the latter part of the season and it’ll be more of a case of ramping in, rather than hitting it and plateauing, which is exciting.
"I think the perception of the first three games, or first five games, there was no sense of panic. After zero and three, we had Munster and knew how big a game it was, but the way we approach every game is the same. It's no different this week.
"We’ve had patches where we haven’t won games, or been in good form, but you take them as they come. The biggest game is your next game, as cliched as it sounds. That’s just the way it is."
With more rotation, both Connacht and Carty can share the burden of leadership.
Having stepped into the captaincy last season, the 30-year-old admits it's taken him time to get used to what's expected of him, both when he's playing and when he's not.
As a squad, he says there's a concerted effort in the squad to share the leadership, rotating the task of presenting to the group at the squad's Monday morning reviews, while Carty knows he can delegate certain pars of the captaincy to some of the team's other leaders.
"At times last year I found myself trying to do too much, but this year a lot of fellas have taken over in different respects to help out.
"You do take things a lot more personally in the role when things aren't going well, and you can be nearly overthinking things. I use a fella, an alchemy consultant – John Counihan is his name – it's good to have him as a sounding board, chattering things through him regarding how to approach weeks, how to speak to teammates.
"I'm probably more assured of myself. I wouldn’t be a person who screams and shouts, or motivates people that way. We have a variety of fellas who communicate in different manners, who appeal to different personalities. I like to keep calm, keep cool and be a presence on the pitch, be it with the referee or the lads.
"It’s nice to have someone like Conor Oliver, or JB [Jarrad Butler], or Finlay [Bealham], who has stepped into that role and can share the workload in that respect. It makes my life easier, because the best way to lead is through your performances on the pitch."
Listen to live commentary of Munster v Leinster (26 December, 7.35pm) and Connacht v Ulster (23 December, 7.35pm) on RTÉ Radio 1, or follow our live blogs on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
Watch live coverage of Connacht v Ulster on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
