When Nick Tompkins was speaking the other day about what Wales need to do moving forward, he could easily have been talking about his own progress over the past two years.
Reflecting on the second-half purple patch Wayne Pivac’s side produced during their narrow defeat to England at Twickenham, he made the point that it has to be delivered more regularly.
“You can’t just be a flash in the pan, you need to be consistently relentless,” he declared.
Therein lies a metaphor for the Tompkins tale.
When the Saracens centre first burst onto the Test scene during the 2020 Six Nations, it really looked as though a new star had emerged.
There had been few more impressive starts to an international career in recent times, with the attacking zip he brought to the Wales backline.
But the events of the next 18 months made you wonder whether it had in fact been a flash in the pan.
His form dipped amid a loan move to the Dragons, there was talk of him having put on unhelpful weight, questions over his defence and he found himself in and out of the national set-up.
Yet scroll forward to today and we find a player at the peak of his powers.
He has been one of Wales’ real standout performers during the Six Nations, with his tireless work in attack and defence.
Against England, he made a repeated beeline for Marcus Smith as a carrier, worked his socks off on the other side of the ball and capped his display with a well-taken try.
That's how it's been with him through the campaign. He has never stopped.
Or to put it another way, he has been “consistently relentless”.
The same goes for his efforts at club level now he is back at Saracens.
He has been tremendous for them this season, with the metres he makes with the ball after contact, punching well above his 14st 7lbs frame, and the way he puts in tackle after tackle.
There’s also his ability as a distributor and the scavenging knack he has of swooping on any loose scrap of possession.
What you get from Tompkins is huge work-rate in terms of touches on the ball and graft in defence, while his footwork makes him all the harder to contain as a carrier. He is a real rugby jack-rabbit, just a non-stop bundle of energy.
The 19-cap centre, who qualifies for Wales through a Wrexham-born grandmother, earned yet more richly deserved plaudits following a man of the match display against Leicester on the weekend.
Speaking on BT Sport, former England skipper Lawrence Dallaglio said: “He didn’t put a foot wrong.
“He was head and shoulders the best player on the pitch, defensively and in attack, with a couple of try assists.”
Wales defence coach Gethin Jenkins works closely with Tompkins, whose all-round game is becoming increasingly apparent.
“When I came in, I had obviously watched from the outside and he was a big attacking threat and there was a lot of focus on that side of his game,” said the former Wales and Lions prop.
“He did and still has got a lot to do defensively. I spend a lot of time with Nick trying to get a few bits right in his work.
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“He’s a great professional player in terms of he’s learning every week. He knows he’s got to keep working on it and his attitude to do it is great.
“He’s been a mainstay for the last three games and an important part of us defensively.
“I know the energy he brings to attack and he’s starting to bring that energy in his defensive work as well.”
Former England prop David Flatman has seen plenty of Tompkins in his role as a Premiership pundit and is a huge admirer.
“He has been ridiculously effective for Saracens,” he says.
“He does the boring stuff really, really well. When he has to make a hit, he is nailing people and then, when he’s had the ball, his leg-drive has been brutal.
“He is just causing people so many problems. He’s a reasonably big bloke who plays like a massive bloke.
“He has a mindset which makes him a ferocious ball carrier.
“There are some nice touches in there, but really what he is, is a difficult specimen to deal with.
“He does the basic stuff so well, the carries, the tackles.”
So what’s behind the transformation that has seen Tompkins hit the heights this season after tailing off somewhat following his eye-catching introduction with Wales?
Well, you get a good idea when you cast an eye over his own words.
The 27-year-old revealed he had some family troubles during the 2020-21 campaign, with his grandfather sadly passing away, while there were also the challenges presented by life in a Covid bubble and picking up a shoulder injury.
Then there were the added pounds he was carrying.
“The Dragons and the WRU wanted me to put weight on, but it wasn’t all good weight, especially during the lockdown,” he revealed in an interview with RugbyPass.
“I’ll be honest, I did not feel myself at all. I wasn’t fit enough. I didn’t feel electric.
“When I got back down to my usual weight I felt more myself. It was a useful lesson – not to get fat!”
Then there was the issue of where he was playing his club rugby.
“At the Dragons, maybe I could have pushed myself harder in training at times and I didn’t,” he admits.
“Then I went back to Saracens, and you’ve got Lions all around you, pushing you and you see the difference.
“You need that push and that competition, because otherwise you go a bit stale.
“I have no regrets (about joining Dragons), but it did remind me how much I missed Saracens.
“I missed my friends and family who are in London and it gave me a renewed love for the club where I feel trusted.
“Maybe it was a case of feeling more at home or seeing some familiar faces. It makes a difference.”
To use his own words, the contrast in his performances has been “like night and day”.
Looking back over what he went through amid something of a slump, he said: “It was tough, really rough, and there are moments where you question your ability and things, but it’s been a good learning curve.
“It’s one of those things that happens in life and it’s peaks and troughs. You’ve just got to manage that and keep level-headed.”
What’s pretty clear is he’s now well and truly out of the trough and scaling new peaks.
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