Wales coach Wayne Pivac raised eyebrows this week when he cut star winger Louis Rees-Zammit from his Six Nations squad to face England in arguably their biggest match of the tournament.
Instead, he opted to field fit-again Josh Adams and the resurgent Alex Cuthbert on his flanks, with the latter having only recently ended a five-year absence from the Six Nations.
Cuthbert does, after all, have some fond memories facing England and finished Wales' only two tries when they emerged as dominant 30-3 victors over their bitter rivals en route to the title in 2013.
His return at Twickenham couldn't help Wales replicate that result as they fell 23-19 on Saturday, but former foe Mike Brown was forced to walk back some pre-match aspersions he had made prior to the clash.
The Newcastle Falcon —who started opposite Cuthbert in that 2013 humiliation—had suggested not a single Welsh player would make a combined XV of the two sides, only for the result to force a rethink in his logic.
"Alex Cuthbert also looked back to his best," Brown wrote in his Mail On Sunday column. "He’s had a lot of flak from Welsh fans and spent a long time away from Test rugby, but his performance at Twickenham was superb.
"For him to make 176 metres from 14 carries is unbelievable. I also thought Tomos Williams – who I’m a big fan of – came into the game late on with the speed of his play.
"Cuthbert would definitely make my combined team from the sides which played yesterday and the other two would come close. I’m happy to eat humble pie on that!"
And so he might after Cuthbert—a member of the triumphant 2013 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia—cut England's defence to ribbons on more than one occasion.
Having welcomed the birth of a daughter (his second child) in midweek, he celebrated the occasion with a mesmeric individual performance at Headquarters.
Cuthbert attracted some criticism for giving away several penalties for holding onto the ball at the breakdown, though that was partially because supporting team-mates simply struggled to keep pace.
Wales struggled to make a dent in the first 50 minutes at Twickenham and found themselves 17-0 down after 43 minutes with Marcus Smith kicking 12 of those points (18 in total) along with an Alex Dombrandt try.
It wasn't until the final 30 minutes that Pivac's men found their gear and ultimately outscored their hosts three tries to one, with Adams, Nick Tompkins and Kieran Hardy each crossing the whitewash.
Brown picked out "remarkable" No. 8 Taulupe Faletau as another of Wales' best performers following his first Test outing in seven months, but Cuthbert shone brightest among the backs.
The 35-year-old has club and international experience playing against Cuthbert, owing to his three years with Exeter Chiefs, having left the Premiership outfit to join Ospreys ahead of the current campaign.
A return to his native land ushered in a second chapter in Cuthbert's Wales career, and Saturday's swashbuckling display suggested he's still more than capable of contending against the Six Nations elite.
