It was almost two years ago to the day that Gareth Anscombe had a knee surgery that saved his rugby career.
So to say he had to climb a mountain to put himself on the left-hand touchline of Free State Stadium in the 79th minute of a match against the Springboks is an understatement. He had to climb Everest.
Anscombe damaged his Anterior Cruciate Ligament in a 2019 Rugby World Cup warm-up match against England but the injury was far worse than first feared. The ACL repair went well but it was an issue with a bone in his right leg softening that nearly ended his career.
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The recovery involved breaking his tibia, completely realigning his leg and inserting a 'bone plug' from a donor, which involved waiting for someone to pass away.
That procedure, called an osteotomy, took place on July 7, 2020. Fast forward to July 9, 2022 and he was nailing a touchline conversion 90 seconds from time to help Wales win against the Springboks in South Africa for the first time in history. It's funny how the world works.
Having battled back from a dark place, Anscombe refused to say that the sport owed him these moments, but admits the struggle makes the highs that little bit sweeter.
In a quiet corner of the stadium, he smiles from ear to ear: "It definitely makes them sweeter. When I had the surgery, the osteotomy, it wasn't about whether I was going to play again, it was whether I was going to run. There were so many unknowns and it's just a bit of a pinch me moment that I'm here and I'm just glad that I could play a part in this group achieving something pretty special.
"My last big surgery, my third surgery, was July 7 (2020). That was when everything got turned upside down and it went from an ACL to something a whole lot more.
"Maybe I had the rugby gods on my side."
The sacrifices to put Anscombe back in the Test arena have not only been his own. He and his wife Milica remodelled their home in order to aid the fly-half's recovery and there are countless physios, surgeons and medical professionals that he would thank if given the time.
He also had to miss the birth of his son, Theo - the couple's second child - to be in South Africa. Anscombe flew out 48 hours after the rest of the squad in the hope that he would be around for the birth, but he found out the news that he had become a father for the second time as he landed in Johannesburg two weeks ago.
When little Theo is old enough, his dad will have one hell of a story to tell.
He says: "I've made a lot of sacrifices in my life and I've been through a lot, physically and I've missed the birth of my son. It will be nice to show him this in 10 years' time and say: 'This is why dad missed it!' Hopefully he will understand.
"She (Milica) was the one that pushed me out the door. There is no way I'd be where I am without her and my family, but particularly my wife. We literally converted half the house to accommodate my recovery.
"I took the time last week to reflect on it a little bit, the fact that it was two years to this date. The question wasn't 'can you play international rugby?' it was 'can you run?'
"That sort of stuff is pretty eye-opening and it's just weird how the world works.
"I've paid my dues, I sacrificed and my family did. I worked hard and I've got a lot of people to thank for putting me in this position.
"That effort, that kick, is a culmination of so many people's work. I'm just glad I was able to step up when I was supposed to and just do my job."
There is a chance that Anscombe is underplaying his role slightly. He dubs the kick 'one of the biggest' of his career and it was from an eerily similar position to where he booted Cardiff to European Challenge Cup glory in 2018.
After yanking an early kickable penalty wide - much to his own frustration - Anscombe told himself that he 'wasn't going to watch this one go over' a mental cue to ensure that he stayed over the ball as he struck, ensuring it stayed on line.
He said: "I was fairly confident in my ability to kick it. I was a little bit annoyed at myself for missing that one before, just pulling it. I suppose, as a kicker, you want those moments. Although I must admit, the legs were feeling a little bit soft at the time. I just told myself that I wasn't going to watch it go over.
"I was actually struggling to see it because I lost it in the floodlight but I saw Jenks' (Neil Jenkins) reaction and he usually tells you before anyone else does.
"Thankfully, it went where it was supposed to. Those are the kicks you dream of, when you get them right."
He added: "I said to the boys that it was a funny game because it wasn't until we had that scrum with 30 seconds to go that I thought we had a chance to win it, just the way the game and the series has gone.
"Fair play to Sam [Wainwright] in his first Test, obviously South Africa are scrummaging for a penalty there.
"The group has copped a lot of flak in the last few weeks. I thought we put a tremendous amount of effort in last week and didn't quite get what we deserved.
"I'm relieved and proud of the group. I think we deserved this one.
"We've created something special and there's a chance to do something tremendously special, with the series here, which is something that not many teams ever do."
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