Devin Toner was the man Joe Schmidt left behind from the World Cup four years ago when Jean Kleyn was a surprise inclusion in his place in the Ireland squad.
This time it is Kleyn, among several others, who is feeling the pang of exclusion as Andy Farrell has gone with a tried and trusted 42-strong training panel that will eventually be reduced to 33 ahead of the finals in France.
The Munster second row is among a number of players who didn't make the cut - and in the case of Kleyn, John Hodnett and Shane Daley in particular, despite such strong finishes to a URC title winning campaign.
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But Toner believes that Farrell's selection decision was on the money - and claims it is not a case of blind loyalty winning the day, given Ireland's track record over a stellar 12 months.
"It's the right way to go," insisted the former long-serving Leinster and Ireland lock, who retired just under a year ago.
"There's loyalty but there's performance as well. There's not one person included that you can single out and say he hasn't had a good year.
"Everyone who has ever got their chance for Faz in the Ireland team has done well. That's really healthy for a squad.
"There were obviously a lot of Munster lads that have been playing well over the last couple of weeks who are very disappointed.
"But everyone who is in the squad has been playing very well as well. So, it’s a squad that he trusts he has gone with and I'm not surprised, really, with any of the calls.
"The argument is if something happens - if they don't get as far as they would like.
"But in my eyes I don't think there is an argument because he has picked a team he trusts and everyone in that squad has delivered in the last year or two, as he and his management team have."
Farrell has gone with players who have been fixtures in previous camps and so are fully up to speed with the demands of the coaches.
Toner doesn't feel that the addition of Kleyn, Hodnett and others would have disrupted the environment in that sense, just as he doesn't believe his absence affected the camp four years ago.
Looking at it from Farrell's position, however, the Meathman can see why there is little point in stringing fringe players along when they won't be going to the finals.
"Obviously everyone felt bad for me at that stage, like, ‘would really love to have you there’ but it’s a different thing to say it was a bad call and he shouldn’t have done it," said Toner.
"You can’t go against the coach. Once the squad is picked you have to go ahead, plough well and do the best you can.
"It’s not something you should be really going against at that stage. I don’t think it had a huge effect. Again I can’t speak to the effect that it had because I wasn’t there. It’s not something I would know a lot about.
"Could Faz have picked 45 or 46 and given another few another shot? Yeah. But that's more people to disappoint when picking the squad.
"Obviously JK (Kleyn) and Hodnett have been class. They're going to get a shot at some stage but it just wasn’t their time - and who do you omit because of them? Everyone has performed really well."
Toner adds that he feels some sympathy for former team-mate Joey Carbery, who was also surplus to requirements after a tough season.
"He’s a class player, he will come back, he'll get his form again," Toner said. "That’s sport, that’s what happens.
"People get picked, people don’t get picked - like, Jack Crowley is playing class at the minute.
"You do feel for him a bit, but he’ll find it back again. When he played with us in Leinster, he was so skilful, he was so jinky on his feet, obviously injuries haven’t done him well. He’ll be back."
It was a first for Devin Toner last Saturday as he found himself cheering on Munster in Cape Town.
And the former Leinster stalwart believes that the Reds' URC final triumph was the best thing that could have happened for Irish rugby ahead of the World Cup.
“It can only be positive for Ireland, for the Irish team," Toner said. "I think it’s a positive for the league.
"It’s the only time I rooted for Munster. I’m blue through and through but I really wanted them to win which is obviously a strange feeling, I never felt that before!
"I enjoyed watching them win but yeah, I think it’s good for Irish rugby and it’s great for the league as well."
Toner admits he doesn't know enough about Jacques Nienaber, who will join Leinster as senior coach after the World Cup from his role as South Africa's head coach, to judge if he is the man to put the Blues in the winning paddock.
"It will be hard to see Stu (Stuart Lancaster) leave because he has had such a phenomenal impact at Leinster over the last seven years, and it will be a different landscape seeing Johnny (Sexton) gone and it will probably be a little bit of a fresh start," said Toner.
"So he'll probably bring a renewed energy to the squad, he might take a couple of weeks to bed in but I think it will be interesting to see how it goes. But it's hard for me to comment on what he will bring."
It was a first for Toner last Saturday as he found himself cheering on Munster in Cape Town.
And he believes that the Reds' URC final triumph was the best thing that could have happened for Irish rugby ahead of the World Cup.
“It can only be positive for Ireland, for the Irish team," Toner said. "I think it’s a positive for the league.
"It’s the only time I rooted for Munster. I’m blue through and through but I really wanted them to win which is obviously a strange feeling, I never felt that before!
"I enjoyed watching them win but yeah, I think it’s good for Irish rugby and it’s great for the league as well."
Toner admits he doesn't know enough about Jacques Nienaber, who will join Leinster as senior coach after the World Cup from his role as South Africa's head coach, to judge if he is the man to put the Blues in the winning paddock.
"It will be hard to see Stu (Stuart Lancaster) leave because he has had such a phenomenal impact at Leinster over the last seven years, and it will be a different landscape seeing Johnny (Sexton) gone and it will probably be a little bit of a fresh start," said Toner.
"So he'll probably bring a renewed energy to the squad, he might take a couple of weeks to bed in.
But I think it will be interesting to see how it goes. But it's hard for me to comment on what he will bring."
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