For Olly Cracknell, it seems like it happened to somebody else.
Rewind five years and there he was, in Wales’ Six Nations squad at the age of 22, propelled into the set-up by big-hitting performances that might have been signed off by the Amalgamated Society of Uncompromising Rugby Defenders.
A future with caps seemed on the cards for the Yorkshire-born kid with a grandfather from Llanelli.
But it didn’t turn out that way or at least it hasn’t turned out that way so far.
Wales didn’t use him at all during the campaign for which he had been selected and they haven’t called on him since, despite Cracknell making close on 600 tackles over two seasons until the end of 2019-20.
But it is to his credit that he doesn’t spend his days living wondering what might have been or indeed what still could be.
“2017 feels like a long time ago now,” laughs Cracknell, who joined London Irish from the Ospreys in the autumn.
“Being called up by Wales was an honour. I was young and hadn’t really been playing senior rugby for long.
“But I didn’t get to play in that Six Nations.
“You can only do your best and the back-row is and was a very competitive area in Wales.”
Does he still have Test ambitions? His reply is shot through with realism. “My position is that a few months ago I didn’t have a clue about my future. I wasn’t playing and didn’t know where my career was going.
“So I can’t say I spend all my time thinking about international rugby. It’s not on the radar right now.
“I just want to justify the faith London Irish showed in me.
“Also, the Gallagher Premiership is such an intense league it takes up all your thoughts.
“I want to play as well as I can for London Irish and enjoy what I’m doing.”
Cracknell has settled well in his new surroundings.
He scored the late try that helped Irish secure a 21-20 European Challenge Cup win over Edinburgh recently and has frequently topped his new team’s counts. He has also played at No. 8 for them, as well as on the flank, offering the kind of unstinting graft that marked his displays for the Ospreys.
More than a few of his old team-mates at the south-west Wales region used to value him for his physicality and reassuring toughness, with the former Wales U20s man able to take a bump and dish one out.
Opponents doubtless think differently.
Indeed, maybe former Connacht player Kyle Godwin is still feeling a shade sore after being on the wrong end of a Cracknell special in a game at The Sportsground in 2019. The Ospreys were losing 41-5 at the time and under heavy pressure, but their No. 6 that day refused to go quietly, dashing across field to connect with Godwin in the manner of a hammer smashing an apple. The wonder was there wasn’t a search for pips immediately after.
What happened for Cracknell to leave the Ospreys?
“A new coach came in and didn’t appear to see in me what others had seen,” says Cracknell.
“That’s fair enough.
“Coaches are paid to pick the team and people have different ideas about what they want, while new players also come through.
“I’d been very lucky at the Ospreys after joining them. I got on very well with Steve Tandy and he developed me a lot. It went on for a few years after Steve left.
“Obviously, the new team wanted to change things up and I was left in the cold a bit. I was left looking for a change.
“I certainly don’t have any regrets.
“I had an amazing time at the Ospreys after joining them when I was young.
"Their analyst at the time, Craig Whelan, was at a Junior World Championship in New Zealand and he pushed me towards the Ospreys. I’ll always be grateful for that, and I’ll always be grateful to Steve for what he did.
“The story may not have worked out as I would have wanted at the end, but I would not be where I am now if it were not for the Ospreys.
"So there are no hard feelings. It’s the way rugby is. It’s a coach’s opinion and everyone is entitled to an opinion. I didn’t fit into the way of thinking. That’s the way it goes.”
As Cracknell says, his move to Irish went under the radar: “I hadn’t played much in that first month of the season. I played against Benetton and didn’t think I had a bad game, but that was my last match for the Ospreys.
“An opportunity with London Irish then came around and I jumped at it.”
Back in the day, Justin Marshall lauded the merits of the Celtic League after sampling both that competition and the English Premiership. Back then, of course, the playing field was comparatively level in terms of funding.
Nowadays, many feel the league across the River Severn has forged well ahead.
“It’s hard for me to say too much because I haven’t played that many games in the Gallagher Premiership,” says Cracknell. “I’d need to play a season or so to judge whether it’s more physical, faster or whatever.
“But the crowds are bigger. It makes you think every game has something on it. My first game was a Premiership Cup match against Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens and there were 12,000 people there. It felt like a big occasion.
“I heard someone say the other day that it’s as if you are playing a European game every week. That’s a good way to describe it.
“So far it’s been really good.”
Cracknell still wants his old team in Wales to do well.
“I have some good mates at the Ospreys,” he says.
“Sam Parry’s one, along with Tom Botha and plenty of others. Scott Otten’s another who I got on really well with. Unfortunately, he had to finish because of injury.
“Just because you move to another club it doesn’t mean you lose your mates at the old one.
“You want to see your friends doing well.
“As I said, if it wasn’t for the chances I had with the Ospreys I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
It’s a good outlook to have.
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