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Tom Farrell was close to shutting the door on a potential Ireland career.
With his seven-year Connacht spell coming to an end at the end of the 2023-24 season, the centre was close to moving abroad before Munster gave him what he now calls a career "lifeline".
Having opted to stay at home, he flourished at the two-time European champions, his all-action displays thrusting him into the Test conversation.
Overlooked in the summer, he was not initially selected by Andy Farrell for the autumn Tests, only to be called up before the All Blacks game.
On Saturday, six years on from first earning a call-up for the 2019 Six Nations, he finally made his bow in Ireland's 41-10 win over Japan, playing all 80 minutes.
"Massive, massive amount of pride to be honest," he said, summing up his first run out in green.
"Particularly during the anthems, I was trying to catch eyes with some of my family.
"But yeah, it was probably, what's the word, relief as well, just to finally get the monkey off the back I suppose and to be able to say I play for my country now."
Farrell scored 10 tries in 25 games for Munster last season, enough to earn him the province's player of the year award, and impressed in last month's United Rugby Championship win over Leinster at Croke Park.
"I was very close to going abroad and then this opportunity arose and then a couple of injuries and a few different situations happened at Munster where I got on a bit of a roll of games," added the Dubliner, who signed a new Munster deal last month.
"I managed to pick up a good bit of form and my game went from strength to strength last year.
"Luckily, this year again, I managed to get in for rounds two and three of the league, just before the Ireland squad was selected, and that probably worked in my favour as well."
Farrell missed out on making his debut under Joe Schmidt six years ago, but having established himself as a midfield option for Farrell, the 32-year-old is determined to make the most of his opportunity.
"The last time I was in camp was 2019, and I probably let the opportunity pass me by a bit," he admitted.
"I probably wasn't ready for the intensity and demands of international rugby and probably let the opportunity slip by.
"But once I got the nod there two weeks ago, I was pretty determined to leave my mark, essentially. I wasn't perfect today, but there's some good things out there."
