He came on as a replacement for the final eight minutes on a wet Sunday afternoon in Edinburgh .
The BBC reported that with two minutes to go at Murrayfield, 18-year-old Taulupe Faletau spilled the ball with the line at his mercy, summing up a match of uneven quality that ended in a surprise Dragons victory that prevented the hosts from returning to the top of the Magners League.
It was November 1, 2009, and the Welsh team won 9-8 at a desolate venue that had had some 65,772 empty seats on the day.
But there were flickers of quality from Faletau, instances that belied his then tender years.
Read more: Wales duo reunite as they leave Welsh rugby
The youngster had been billed as having potential after his performances for Cross Keys in the Welsh Premiership.
Two years later he played for Wales at the World Cup, not missing a tackle in 83 attempts in the tournament in New Zealand.
This week, against France in Paris, he is set to win his hundredth Wales cap and is widely seen as one of the country’s greatest players from any era.
He would probably prefer it if there were to be no fuss on Saturday, because the self-effacing No. 8 is never more ill at ease than when others are lauding him.
But he’ll have to put up with the attention this weekend, for there are plenty of people who want to acknowledge him as he reaches such a momentous career mark.
Who were the team-mates for his first game of professional rugby, all those years ago?
We asked one of them, now Swansea coach Hugh Gustafson, to run through the team-list for us. The words are his.
Jason Tovey
Here's a laid back character to start.
Jason was well-liked at the Dragons and became a stalwart over 180-odd games with them.
A Wales cap eluded him, but he played really well in 2009 and was voted Welsh rugby’s young player of the year.
He was a great prospect back then, a good kicker out of hand and off the tee.
He had spells with Edinburgh and Cardiff as well.
Now player-coaching with Ynysddu.
Aled Brew
A really hard-running wing who came through at the Ospreys.
When he was at the Dragons he came up with some really powerful performances. You could put a brick wall in front of Aled and he’d still run through it.
He could break tackles and score tries.
He spent some time with Biarritz and with Bath and went on to play for all four Welsh regions.
These days he’s with Neath RFC.
Tom Riley
A quality centre who had some time with Pontypridd, Cardiff Blues and Newport before getting on board at the Dragons.
Tom had a stint with Cornish Pirates until returning to Wales and playing for Merthyr and then Pontypridd, again.
It said much for him that he went back to Beddau, where it all started for him, to round off his career. I know they were delighted to have him back.
There was nothing flash with him. He just hit people, carried hard and was a very good regional rugby player.
Matthew J. Watkins
Sadly, Matthew passed away in 2020 after a long illness.
He was someone who you felt better for having known, a lovely guy who was always smiling.
Even during the depths of his health issues, he never felt sorry for himself.
He played for Wales and hit a high standard for all his club sides.
Even when he was ill, he still squeezed everything out of every day. It meant a lot to know him.
Richard Fussell
A talented player who did well for years at the Dragons.
A cap never came his way, but he was well thought of at Rodney Parade and when he moved to the Ospreys.
He’s now attack coach at the Ospreys.
James Arlidge
A Kiwi who played for Japan, James was a tall, rangy 10 who came over with a group of New Zealanders to play for the Dragons. He had two seasons in Newport before heading off on his travels again.
Wayne Evans
A quicksilver scrum-half from west Wales who came through the Scarlets academy before moving to Cardiff Blues and playing for Pontypridd.
He was a fine performer for several seasons with the Dragons.
There was also a stint with Coventry prior to him returning to Wales and enjoyed a second spell with Pontypridd.
Great character, great guy.
Hugh Gustafson
That’s me.
I played hooker as well as loosehead prop and had nine seasons with the Dragons, playing 151 games for them. I met a lot of great people there, many of whom are still good friends. I also played for a number of clubs and then went into coaching. These days, I coach skills with the Ospreys academy. I’m also head coach at Swansea RFC and I’m performance manager with Swansea University — so quite busy!
I’m still young and, like players, coaches take time to develop and they learn more from losses than from wins. But I’m enjoying it all hugely.
There is a lot of talent in Welsh rugby — there are a lot of quality players in the university system as well as in the club and academy set-ups — and we will improve as a rugby nation. It’s a question of everyone knuckling down, working hard and staying positive.
Steve Jones
Now we are cooking on gas.
Jabba, as Steve is known to everyone, was a really good hooker and he’s a top man, one of the best blokes you could wish to meet.
You can talk to anyone in rugby and no-one will ever say anything bad about Steve.
He played at a time when there were some great hookers emerging in Wales, among them Huw Bennett, Richard Hibbard and Matthew Rees, yet Steve still won five caps.
When you wanted someone to knuckle down and fight during tough times, he was the man.
I think they named a bar after him at Rodney Parade, the Jabba bar.
He's attached to Gower College and is an excellent coach.
Pat Palmer
Pat played for Wales U20s and spent two or three seasons with the Dragons.
His clubs included Pontypridd, Newport and Cardiff.
Robert Sidoli
He knows more about lineouts than anyone I could think of.
Maybe he could write a book on the subject.
Rob was a proper leader who had time for everybody but he would also learn from people, do his extras and keep on working hard at his game. I remember he’d be practising his tackle technique with Dan Lydiate. Rob would never think he was the finished article. He may have won a shedload of caps for Wales and played all those times for Pontypridd, Celtic Warriors, Cardiff, Bristol and the Dragons, yet he still wanted to get better. He moved into coaching and went on to become director of rugby at Newport High Rugby Academy. You can read more here about the man who witnessed everything.
Adam Jones
I remember in the Edinburgh game I missed a lineout lift with him and he was still reminding me about it three phases later. I said: “Look, I know I missed the lift, but we have a game here now. I’ll do better next time!”
He worked hard for the Dragons and had a few really good seasons.
A Wales international, he added to a strong pool of locks at the region at the time.
He went on to organise extreme endurance events.
Hoani McDonald
A player who had basketball limbs and who was athletic around the park.
You couldn’t put him in a box when it came to his skills. He’d come up with crossfield kicks, one-handed offloads and was a very talented player.
In 2012, he had suffered a cardiac arrest while on the field.
Happily, he recovered.
Later went into coaching.
Gavin Thomas
Class. He was really honest with his opinions and an excellent player good enough to play for Wales. Injuries didn’t help ‘Dougie’, as he was known, but he played well for every club he played for, among them Bridgend, Ospreys, Scarlets, Bath and the Dragons, and there weren’t many better flankers around at the time.
Grant Webb
Another one of the Kiwi boys who came over.
He was strong and skilful and had played sevens rugby for New Zealand.
Grant left after two seasons with the Dragons.
On the bench...
Taulupe Faletau
Toby appeared with eight minutes to go against Edinburgh, coming on as a replacement for Gavin Thomas.
He was one of four subs used, along with Duane Goodfield, Peter Bracken and Rhodri Gomer-Davies.
I remember the game because we won against a side who were flying high at the time.
We’d all heard rumblings there was a cracking player coming through for Cross Keys in the Welsh Premiership.
I just recall getting up from a scrum on the halfway line, looking up and Toby was in their 22, having made a linebreak.
You thought then that maybe this guy was a bit special.
He was very quiet and humble, laid back with everything coming naturally to him, a fantastic player in so many ways.
The conditions were horrendous, a proper Scottish day.
But we won and a bright light in Toby was coming through the region, which made it even more memorable.
READ MORE:
Why Christ Tshiunza is missing from the Wales squad despite not being injured
Liam Williams one of two players out of France match as new man called up
Rugby World Cup accused as three of the best five teams blocked from semi-finals
Gabby Logan's 'powerful' teenage son signs with English giants
