The news that Louis Rees-Zammit has been dropped from Wales' team certainly comes as a surprise to many.
Even if the 21-year-old hasn't been in scintillating form, few would have predicted that he wouldn't be starting against England at Twickenham.
On his day, the Gloucester winger is a match-winner on his own, with his raw pace and eye for the try line.
One of the stars of last year's Six Nations triumph, he followed that up with a first Lions tour to South Africa.
However, the reality is this wasn't totally out of the blue. Not really.
After a meteoric rise in the Welsh jersey, things have understandably plateaued a touch for Wales' try wonder.
So what's the reason behind his omission for the England clash? It is a match which, not that long ago, he would have been nailed on to start.
Well, first things first, it would appear that the reason isn't linked to injury concerns.
Rees-Zammit did take an ankle knock ahead of the Ireland match, but he started Wales' opening two matches and is likely to feature for Gloucester against Leicester Tigers this weekend - even if only from the bench.
Of course, that is not to say the ankle knock hasn't affected him. Against Ireland in Dublin, he struggled to make any impact on proceedings.
Part of that would have been down to the ankle problem. The more obvious reason would be that the Welsh pack were dominated up front and the backline didn't get a sniff at the Aviva Stadium.
Then, even on the back of a solid carrying performance against Scotland, there was little in the way of attacking promise.
Wales aren't finding the edge of opposition defences, with most of Rees-Zammit's carries coming off 10 - either through inside balls or pull-back passes.
That's hardly ideal ball for Rees-Zammit to be working off, so the notion of a physical winger like Alex Cuthbert hitting those lines is understandable.
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Naturally, people will point to Wales not getting the ball to Rees-Zammit in the right areas and that is understandable.
But Wales' current attacking game is reliant on getting good ball carries. The issue is, it's not always clear where and how Wales will get them.
With everything playing off 10 and the centre partnership having been different in each of the last eight games, Wales don't look anywhere near to creating the multi-phase chances they worked last year when they were top try-scorers in the tournament.
So while, in an ideal world, Wales would be getting the ball to the edges and providing Rees-Zammit with space, they're probably not quite capable of doing that yet.
Clearout responsibility and carrying options remain a work-on and, as such, Wales probably need wingers who are happy doing the grunt work and playing in a kick-chase system as they will almost certainly look to the high ball if they get nowhere around the halfway line.
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In that sense, Wayne Pivac feels Josh Adams and Cuthbert are the men for this match. In truth, they probably have the more rounded games compared to Rees-Zammit, and that's not a criticism of a young guy who has only been playing at this level for 18 months.
Because therein lies part of the problem with Rees-Zammit. He is an eye-catching player.
Many of the tries he scores are YouTube-worthy efforts, which will almost certainly go viral on social media. The hype builds on moments, rather than complete performances.
Those who have watched him regularly for Gloucester this year would be hard-pressed to say he has hit the same heights as last year. Other areas of his game won't get that same exposure.
That's not to say all other areas of his game are poor and are hidden by eye-catching tries. Far from it.
He probably won't get the credit he deserves for his kicking game or his clearout work in wide channels, but there won't be the same scrutiny on things like his aerial work and defence. If he is dropped for concerns over his games, then they are more than likely down to minor work-ons like that.
Some coaches would have persevered with Rees-Zammit, knowing his flair can inspire. Pivac has chosen to take him out of the spotlight for one game at least.
Rees-Zammit has had to do virtually all of his learning in the past 18 months in the Test glare.
In truth, this day was always likely to come even if few expected it right now, ahead of Wales' biggest game of the year.
There was going to be a dip. Climbing the mountain is easy, staying there is hard and all that jazz.
This is the first real test for Rees-Zammit since he burst onto the international stage with such aplomb.
The likelihood is it will do him more good than harm in the long run.
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