There are always a couple of jacks in the Lions' box, but for Keith Earls, the 2008/9 season has moved quicker than the famous toy.
Irishman's rapid rise to the top
There are always a couple of jacks in the Lions' boxes, but for Keith Earls, the 2008/9 season has moved quicker than the famous old child's toy.
Earls - and no doubt we'll be writing the same of Leigh Halfpenny soon enough - was not far into his first professional contract when he got his first opportunities for Munster earlier this season.
Since then, a combination of fortuitous timing of injuries to others and his own penchant for taking every opportunity that comes his way have brought him to first appearance in the most cherished red jersey of all.
But he just does not seem to get nervous. Quiet, yes. Even innocent, comparatively. But in no way do you ever get the sense that this is someone getting lost in the speed of his meteoric rise to stardom.
His credentials were advertised perhaps by the most influential voice of all: Lions captain Paul O'Connell.
"He's a very laid back kind of guy, quiet, unassuming, modest, he's very eager to learn, which is something everyone has seen of him over the last two weeks," said the tour skipper and Earls' team-mate for province.
O'Connell learned his trade under, among others, the auspices of Ger Earls at Young Munster, so it seems appropriate O'Connell should repay the favour in kind.
"He has something special: great pace, very elusive, a good step, a great fend, good skills, he has all you'd want and then he has a good head to go with it which is very important," concluded O'Connell.
Learning
Glowing praise indeed, but there remains one conundrum. Earls began the year at full-back but more injuries and his own scorching form have now moved him into the centre, where he will start against the Royal XV on Saturday. Is he to be labelled 'utility back', a curse which has befallen many other bright talents of the recent generation and which has halted many a fledgling career?
Not for him. He wants a position, and wants it quickly.
"It's been my first season so I am still learning a lot, and I still haven't nailed down a position," he said quietly.
"(Munster coach) Tony McGahan obviously sees me with a future at full-back, but with Rua Tipoki being injured, I've had my chance at 13.
"I don't want to be known as a utility back, I want to be known as a 15 or 13. Obviously I'll give my all for Ireland or the Lions or whoever, it whatever position they play me in, but I don't want utility back next to my name in the team profile in the future."
But it has been an incredible burst onto the scene for the 21-year-old, who is still struggling to come to terms with it all at times.
"At the start of the year I didn't think I'd have an Irish cap. It's my first pro season, I was hoping to get a few starts with Munster," he said.
"But a few things in the Magners League went my way, I got a couple of games in the Heineken Cup, but even then, not in a million years did I think I'd be on a Lions tour."
Elegant
Having spent much of the second half of the season at centre, and wowed many a Heineken Cup fan with his drifting onto the ball and searing pace to take him outside his marker, not to mention his devastating running in the clear, it is clear he has a future there.
His attributes are very much in Brian O'Driscoll's mode, although he is slightly less of a battering ram, perhaps slightly less of a tyro and a more cultured, elegant runner.
But centres are also made by their partners. Jamie Roberts - who will partner someone younger than him for the first time at this level - and his destructive running would appear to have the attributes to complement Earls.
Now, and as Ian McGeechan repeatedly pointed out at the team announcement, it is about seeing if the combination can gel and bring something extra to the party. The young pairing - Roberts is 22 to Earls' 21 - is perhaps the most exciting aspect of the team chosen for Saturday's tour opener.
"Jamie's going to be a little bit different to (Lifeimi) Mafi. He's a big powerful player. We've gelled well the last couple of weeks, but I am just looking forward to it," said Earls.
"We don't know too much about them. We've seen a few clips from some of them playing Super 14, but it's only once every 12 years these lads get to play against the Lions, so they are going to be up for it."
As, you would suspect, will Ireland's latest bright young thing.
