It's safe to say Harri O'Connor's call-up to the Wales squad ahead of their trip to South Africa raised a few eyebrows.
While tipped for great things, the 21-year-old tighthead prop had played just 207 minutes of senior rugby and started one competitive match ahead of the all-important phone call which interrupted his summer holiday.
Even he was surprised.
"I was on holiday in Lanzarote relaxing in the swimming pool when I got the call," he recalls, in an interview with RugbyPass. "It was a big shock when I got told the news by Jon Daniels [Scarlets general manager of rugby].
"I didn’t really know what to say but I suppose it was a mixture of excitement and nerves, and it was obviously a proud moment for myself and my family.
"I’d never thought about being in the squad, it hadn’t even crossed my mind. But once the shock wore off I took it in my stride because at the end of the day you’ve got a job to do. I then spoke to a member of the Wales management team, and they got me on a flight back to Wales on the Sunday so I could join up with the squad before flying out with the boys to South Africa for the tour."
Alongside Saracens' Sam Wainwright, O'Connor became one of two uncapped tightheads on the Wales tour, which ended in a 2-1 series defeat, as part of a four-person contingent of tighthead options who were about to face arguably the Springboks' two best front-rows in the world.
While he did not amass game time during the trip to the Rainbow Nation, O'Connor is thankful for the "surreal" experience. “A few days before I never thought I’d be anywhere near this level yet," he said. “Obviously, I would have loved to have got on the field, but it was still a great learning experience. I picked up a lot of tips about scrummaging while I was in the Wales squad.
“The intensity that they train at is unreal as is the physicality. I fared well in the scrummaging sessions, that was totally fine. I pride myself on my scrummaging, but I want to be an all-rounder."
The most sure-fire way of demonstrating exactly that right now is by breaking into the Scarlets team to show what he can do on a regular basis in the United Rugby Championship when the new season begins. There's just the small matter of competing with Scotland international Javan Sebastian and Wales' WillGriff John and Samson Lee for the jersey.
"I back myself against anyone as a scrummager," he said. "I’m just going to put my head down, work hard, and hopefully I can get more gametime."
And he's not the only O'Connor who's bidding to do that. Little brother Sam O'Connor, a loosehead, has just been promoted to the senior Scarlets squad and will be eager to make a strong first impression.
Sons to parents who hail from Swansea, the housemates pack down against each other under the watchful eye of Scarlets forwards coach Ben Franks, a World Cup-winning prop with New Zealand.
“There’s no love lost when we scrummage against each other, we go full pelt," the front-rower added. "But it’s good because he’ll pop up and tell me what I’ve done well and what I’ve done wrong while I’ll say the same to him.
“One of my biggest goals in the game is to pack down in the same scrum as Sam for the Scarlets. That would be a dream come true.”
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What became of the young Wales team who did something very special three years ago
