You could forgive Hoskins Sotutu for feeling like the forgotten man of All Blacks rugby.
Throughout their rollercoaster seven-game ride through the 2022 campaign, the Blues No.8 has not been sighted on the playing field, as Ardie Savea defied the form guide to make the position his own.
Arguably, the All Blacks began their slide down the world rankings, when prop Angus To'ovao was red-carded in the second test against Ireland and Savea was inexplicably summoned to the sidelines to make way for a front-row replacement - and then not allowed to return.
Since then, he has simply been New Zealand's best - week in and week out - as they strive to match his consistency, consigning Sotutu to the role of crash-test dummy at training.
With Savea back in Wellington on babywatch, his understudy has been called into action for the Bledisloe Cup opener against Australia on Thursday, as the All Blacks shoot for their first back-to-back wins of the season.
"With my time not playing, it becomes more special when I get named," he said. "I'm excited to get out there and play hard, and make everyone proud.
"I just try and train the best I can, and if I'm named, I'm named. If I'm not, I've got another task of preparing the team - it's just whatever job I have at the time."
Sotutu's last appearance for the national side was their 47-9 victory over Italy last November, when he was among the tryscorers.
He began Super Rugby Pacific slowly, building form as the competition progressed, but actually lost his All Blacks back-up spot to Chiefs rival Pita Gus Sowakula against Ireland.
Fijian-born Sowakula made only cameo appearances in that historic series defeat and was subsequently dropped for the Rugby Championship, even with Savea and blindside flanker Shannon Frizell unavailable for the trans-Tasman trek.
Sotutu's inactivity for the national team has seen him released to play for Counties Manukau in the national provincial championship.
"He's trained really, really well," said All Blacks coach Ian Foster. "He's been part of our group and training alongside Ardie regularly, and putting pressure on during those training weeks.
"He knows his roles really well and we just want him to execute the game we need him to play, but also not be afraid to show some of the skillset that he's got.
"The guys all know that there's 15 and then the bench, and then there are guys that don't get named. How we train and how we prepare each other, it's always been our philosophy that everyone's getting ready to play.
"It tests you when you haven't played a test match for the past couple of months, but we have got him back playing NPC a couple of times for a good hitout and we're confident he's ready."
While Savea has set the blueprint for No.8 play in recent seasons, Sotutu has shown he has plenty to offer the position at Super Rugby level - the trick is applying that to the next level for the All Blacks.
"For me, I just try to do things the way I do them," he said. "At training, if I see something a bit differently, I speak up, but I'm still young and trying to learn, and Ardie's the master at the moment.
"His preparation is second to none. Him being able to perform consistently every week is something I find pretty amazing and something for me to drive towards.
"He's an allround player - aggressive on defence and on attack - and he can make things happen, which is something to work towards in the future."
Join us at 9:45pm Thursday for live updates of the All Blacks v Australia Bledisloe Cup test
