For lock James Ryan, it was almost a surreal moment watching Ciarán Frawley's dropgoal go over to give Ireland victory over South Africa on Saturday.
The 25-24 win looked unlikely, if not impossible with just 15 minutes to play. However, Frawley was the hero of the hour.
Two dropgoals in the final 13 minutes, and the second of those with the final kick of the game, saw Ireland stage an incredible comeback against the world champions, who had looked to be on course to whitewash the visitors in the series.
After the game, Ryan's thoughts went back to 2018 to Johnny Sexton's dropgoal some 45 metres out against France, a kick that gave the Irish a last-gasp victory, the first step on their way to completing a Six Nations Grand Slam.
"That's what I thought, that’s what it reminded me of, the big pile on, 2018 in Paris," Ryan said, when speaking to the media after Saturday's clash at Kings Park.
"I couldn’t believe that it (drop goal) went over. I said, 'nah, it didn’t go over' when I was standing up and then I saw Frawls and Pete (O’Mahony) coming towards us.
"But then the ref kind of blows his whistle, my heart dropped, I thought he was checking something. I was going ‘oh, no.’ It’s funny, it’s amazing the difference it makes when the ball goes over the bar.
"It’s fine margins, we have been on both sides of it but the difference it makes to the mood.
Paying tribute to Frawley, the 27-year-old added: "It is serious going. The first one was probably more impressive. It was brilliant. I don’t think he gets fazed by much, which is the right way to be; balls of steel. Delighted for him."
Andy Farrell's side got off the good start in the second Test, leading 16-6 at the break, a marked contrast to the opening period a week earlier.
It was something the collective were keen to address, with Ryan saying: "We were probably disappointed with last week in terms of how we started the first half.
"The big thing this week was to start well. When you are playing the world champions at home in their back garden it is such a great opportunity.
"This week we talked about attacking the game, properly going after it, attacking it. Sometimes on these big days and opportunities you can go into your shell. Whenever we have had our best performances we have gone after it."
The expected Springboks response did come in the second period, with the Leinster clubman pleased that the Six Nations champs had the smarts to eke out the win.
He said: "We knew that they were going to have a good period in the game. Our discipline was pretty poor in the second half, we gave away a lot of penalties.
"That's definitely something that we will have to look at. To be fair, we stuck in the fight. We felt it was on to stay in it, give ourselves an opportunity to win the game, which we did with that strike at the end."
And so the curtain comes down on the international season. It's 49 weeks since Ireland played their first warm-up match ahead of the World Cup. Almost a year on and Ryan was highlighting the significance of signing of with victory against the world champions.
"It makes a huge difference, even to the next week. When you are in a sport like this, it is all in. We have been on both sides of it. When you get a win like that it makes your summer. It's not an exaggeration.
"The ball goes over the bar, just the difference it makes to everyone’s summer. It's the business we’re in, it’s like a drug."
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