On just another normal Friday night in Bridgend, some 433 days of waiting finally ended. The 'man in the blue hat' returned.
Not since June 2021, when the British and Irish Lions took on Japan in Edinburgh, had Justin Tipuric been seen on a rugby field. A shoulder injury suffered that day has kept him out of action for 14 months.
His long-awaited return to action, in a pre-season friendly against Northampton Saints at the Brewery Field, provided as much of a fanfare as such an occasion can reasonably muster. The 33-year-old led the Ospreys out to a strong ovation from the home crowd, while he received a similar response when he departed before the hour mark.
But what of his return in terms of on-field contribution? For so long, Tipuric's all-round class has almost been taken for granted. Would some of the shine have faded after such a long time out of the game?
Well, any one who makes definitive judgements from pre-season is on a hiding to nothing, but the early answer - as the world and his dog likely expected - is no. Justin Tipuric is still the same Justin Tipuric we knew before (albeit with slightly longer hair).
It took mere seconds for the back-row to show that. Largely defending in the more exposed midfield throughout the night, Tipuric got involved straight away.
The Saints are a team that look to stress defences with ball in hand and Tipuric immediately had his work cut out as Northampton probed for a chance of a linebreak. The back-row did well to track across from fly-half James Grayson to inside centre Fraser Dingwall on one early attack, even if Dingwall managed to get his hands free for an offload back to Grayson.
Pleasingly though, Tipuric was back on his feet in an instance - putting pressure on Dingwall as the centre dabbed a kick in behind the Ospreys defence.
Moments later, we saw a trademark piece of play from Tipuric. With Saints No. 8 Juarno Augustus held up in a two-man tackle, Tipuric burst in to strip the ball and then immediately kick it into the Saints' 22 for Keelan Giles to chase.
"It was wonderful - and a signature kick straight away," said Ospreys coach Toby Booth afterwards.
"Certain people can do certain things and to have the man in the blue hat, as my son refers to him, back has given everyone a boost.
"He has been, I am sure, very nervous around that, like any player is, and he will get massive confidence and get better and better of course."
Just as industrious was his work on kick chases. It's no secret that a big part of Wales' kicking game under Wayne Pivac has hinged on having a secondary chaser such as Tipuric in support to clear up any mess and help win that initial battle once the ball drops out of the air.
It was a similar story in Bridgend when the Ospreys opted to put boot to ball. One passage of play saw Tipuric give chase to Rhys Webb's initial box kick, clear out the ruck when the ball bobbled to centre Kieran Williams, get back to his feet and then get in support of Webb to receive an offload when the scrum-half spotted half a gap to snipe through.
There were some slight signs of rust as you'd expect. At times, he wasn't quite as quick to the breakdown as you'd expect, while a sight we've come to take for granted in previous years - Tipuric drawing in defenders before giving a perfectly-timed pass to a team-mate - went a little awry in the first-half.
Seeking to suck in two defenders, Tipuric's pass to Luke Morgan looped over the winger's head. Morgan, knowing such a mistake is a rarity, simply turned around and smiled at his team-mate.
More pleasing was the fact that Tipuric had been in the position to make the break in the first place. Much of his attacking work was done stalking the wider channels - a facet of his game that will only serve to add another dimension to an Ospreys attack that has shown some early pre-season promise.
In the second-half, it was clear that Tipuric was finding his feet in the attack - which began to click as replacement Jack Walsh offered the Ospreys backline another dimension with a second-receiver playmaking option out the back.
In the build-up to Cai Evans' try, that will to push the ball out the back to get at Northampton's fringes offered up some more opportunities for Tipuric.
He couldn't help but throw his hands up in frustration as the pass didn't reach him when the Ospreys had seemingly worked an overlap, but he remained involved - stepping in at scrum-half to build some tempo through carries from his pack.
Moments later in the same set, he'd get a chance to make a difference out wide. While the obvious thing is to focus on the perfectly-timed draw-and-give to Jac Morgan right before Evans' try, the previous pass to Morgan is perhaps just as important.
He knows not to hold onto the ball for too long, instead giving the pass early to allow Morgan the outside. That forces Saints defenders to overcompensate and their 9, 10 and 14 are all sucked into the one ruck - cleared out by Tipuric.
The Ospreys go one phase in to give themselves some space on that short-side, but those Northampton backs haven't been able to properly reset yet. So when Tipuric calls for the pass again and the Ospreys' zig-zag back, the openside fixes the outside defender before slipping the pass away to Morgan.
Both inside defenders then push out to Morgan, allowing the offload back inside for Evans. On paper, it's a 3-on-3, but the work of Tipuric is where the mismatches are found.
The modest Tipuric couldn't be persuaded to speak afterwards, insisting the night wasn't about him. Naturally though, others, like Booth, would field questions about the talismanic openside.
"From what I saw out there, I am pretty confident. Two line breaks, a kick and creating a lot of good stuff for us," said the Ospreys coach.
"He is a special footballer and he can do things that other people in those positions can't do.
"He will be very humble about that, but having that sort of player brings on the young players behind him as well.
"The good thing about Tips is he is very giving about that knowledge."
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