It was early March of this year and one of those inconspicuous Friday nights in the URC, when it pops back up on a fallow Six Nations weekend.
Munster v Scarlets at Musgrave Park wouldn't be the biggest draw of the season, particularly during an international block, but it provided one of the moments of the year.
In a game in which the sides combined for 13 tries and 91 points, the highlight of the evening was a substitution.
RG Snyman's Munster return brought the house down in Cork that night. Seventeen months on from his second ACL tear in just over a year, the South African World Cup winner was finally back.
His introduction drew a noise that surpassed any try scored that night. Similarly, his every movement was greeted with cheers; when he came out for the pre-game warm-up, when he went back down the tunnel before the game, when he came back out for kick-off, as well as every time he climbed off his seat to go for a jog down the touchline.
When he returns from his chest/shoulder injury in March of this year, it's unlikely to be greeted as warmly.
The news that the 28-year-old lock is swapping Munster for Leinster next season landed just after 11pm on Thursday night courtesy of the Irish Times, a stop-you-in-your-tracks headline, the kind that would make you drop a coffee cup in slow motion.
While we had known since last month that Snyman would be leaving Munster at the end of the campaign, nobody saw his move to Leinster coming. He'd been expected to re-connect with his former Munster boss Johann van Graan at Bath, before Leo Cullen's side swooped in to keep him in Ireland.
Transfers between the rival provinces have become common enough in the last 10 years, but none have been this controversial. Even when another giant South African lock, Jason Jenkins, traded Thomond Park for the RDS in 2022, it paled in significance to the news of his replacement at Leinster.
Rugby is a business, and a pretty cold one at that, but Munster fans will have every right to feel bitter at the way this has played out.
They knew this was Snyman's last season at their province, but having unconditionally supported the player through three-and-a-half seasons so far, in which he's played just 10 times, it can't sit easy with them - and even many of his teammates - to see him head east to their biggest rivals. If he gets an injury free run with Leinster, it'll hurt even more.
It's an absolutely understandable move from the player's point of view; His injury problems since 2020 have been a stark reminder of how fickle a rugby career can be. Likewise, personal circumstances can also have a big say. Having been in Ireland for more than three years, he and his partner are likely quite settled in the country. If there's a choice to be made between Leinster and Bath, and the money is roughly the same, it's an easy decision to make. On the face of it, this is a rugby and personal decision rather than a financial one.
The cost of the decision will be in how he's remembered at Munster, and whatever happens between now and the end of the season, his legacy at the province will not be the same. There's no happy middle ground between those two worlds.
The Munster supporters' ire will be directed just as much towards the IRFU as it will be towards Snyman, with the province still feeling the knock-on effects of Jean Kleyn's South Africa call-up for the World Cup.
For four years, the province's supporters were frustrated at Kleyn being continually overlooked by Ireland head coach Andy Farrell. When Kleyn was then called up for South Africa - ironically by future Leinster coach Jacques Nienaber - it left Munster with two non-Irish qualified (NIQ) second rows, only one of whom they would be able to keep beyond this season.
Nienaber's role is another wrinkle in a fascinating story. The former Munster coach joked last week that those at Thomond Park won't be too quick to buy him a pint when he brings his Leinster side to Limerick on St Stephen's Day when the sides meet in the URC. It's a quote that stands out more than it did a week ago, with the ex-Springbok coach's fingerprints are all over the Snyman signing.
Munster head coach Graham Rowntree ultimately chose Kleyn over Snyman, and while the majority would agree with that decision, it's one they probably wouldn't have had to make had Kleyn picked up another Irish cap between 2019 and 2023.
Funnily, the move hasn't been met with universal warmth around Leinster either.
While Snyman has shown himself to be a true world class player, his injury profile over the last four years with Munster makes it a big risk for Leo Cullen's side, especially with the province already boasting a deep line of second rows in James Ryan, Joe McCarthy, Ryan Baird and Ross Molony, not to mention upcomers Brian Deeny and Conor O'Tighearnaigh.
If the double World Cup winner can get a clear run of fitness, there's no doubt that he'll make the four-time European champions a better team, but it's by no means a slam dunk for Cullen and Nienaber.
At the very least, the stakes just got bigger for their Christmas derby at Thomond. Bring it on.
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Follow a live blog on Exeter v Munster in the Champions Cup on Sunday from 1pm on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra (first half) and RTÉ Radio 1 (second half).
Watch Leinster v Sale Sharks in the Champions Cup on Saturday from 4.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on www.rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
