Of the 268 games Stephen Archer has already played for Munster in his career, it's arguable that two of his most important came within seven days of each other last April.
Was it not for Munster's unbeaten tour of South Africa in the final rounds of the URC regular season, it’s likely there would have been no trophy to parade around Thomond Park in May, and maybe even no Champions Cup rugby to look forward to this year.
In that win against the Stormers and the come-from-behind draw against the Sharks the following week, Archer put in a pair of tireless 80-minute shifts, a foreign concept for modern tighthead props, let alone one who is 35-years of age.
The fact that he locked horns with Springbok World Cup winners Steven Kitshoff and Ox Nche in those games makes the feat of endurance all the more impressive.
Highlighting a pair of 80-minute performances across a 14-year career may not appear to be much of a tribute, but to put it all into context it had been six years since the veteran prop had been asked to go the distance for his province, something he’d only been required to do five times in his career.
The Corkman is set to put his name into the Munster Rugby history books this evening against Leinster where he'll make a record 269th appearance for the province, passing the mark which has been held by Donncha O’Callaghan since 2015.
The prevailing adjective used to describe him this week has been "durable".
"He's like a Toyota Hilux, isn't he, with about 400,000 miles on the clock. He'll never break down," Munster forwards coach Andi Kyriacou said of Archer this week.
Again, there will be more glamorous superlatives used to describe players, but most front row forwards will recognise that comparison as true praise.
Similarly, his head coach Graham Rowntree’s tribute followed a similar tune: "I can't speak highly enough of the guy. He's everything that we are; diligent, hard-working, he cares, he's proud, he's tough, a tough man."
In his 14-years as a professional, the two-cap Ireland international has straddled three generations of Munster, from the late 2000s heyday, through the tough times of the 2010s, and on into their URC title of 2023.
When he first came onto the scene as a 21-year-old, it was at the tail-end of Munster’s golden years of Champions Cup success.
He made his debut in October 2009 in a 12-7 defeat to Edinburgh, in a squad that contained the likes of O’Callaghan, Paul O’Connell, Ronan O’Gara, Peter Stringer, Denis Leamy and David Wallace.
"To literally play with some of my heroes back then was an incredible buzz," Archer said last week, after he equaled O’Callaghan’s record in the 10-3 win over the Stormers.
"To do it once was incredible, but to do it 260-odd times is really special and something I’m really proud of.
"I grew up and my family were big Munster supporters and I spent my teenage years travelling with my dad to big European matches. It gives you a dream to one day play with Munster."
In rugby, even a 'Toyota Hilux’ of a player needs a few trips to the workshop, but Archer has fared better than most when it comes to injuries.
His 15 appearances last season would have been far higher had it not been for an ankle surgery, which kept him out for close to four months, while a neck injury in 2015 limited him to just nine appearances.
In between those two injuries, he’s been part of the furniture in Munster squads, averaging 23 games a season across those six years, and playing 29 of his team’s 31 games in the 2018/19 campaign.
"People on the outside wouldn’t realise how good an athlete he is, how fit he is," his former Munster front row partner Mike Sherry tells RTÉ Sport.
As a hooker, Sherry spent the majority of his Munster career with Archer under his right shoulder, as well as playing alongside him in the Munster academy, Ireland U20s, and even all the way back to their first trials for Ireland U18 Schools.
"Immediately he was a really nice guy, a big lump of a fella at a young age, he stood out," he says.
"And then I got to know him really, really well over the next few years, we were involved in Munster and Irish underage teams, through the academy and then into the senior team.
"He’d be one of my closest friends from my rugby career, I stay in touch with him."
And Sherry laughs that looks can be deceiving.
"He wouldn’t strike you as someone that’s an incredible athlete, but he does have amazing durability and fitness, and it’s stood to him now," he added.
"It’s amazing how he’s still there, considering how he’s a very big guy with a lot of miles on the clock. I’d say even now his fitness numbers are still up, if not around the top of the props. It’s a testament to him."
His international career was fleeting.
Having featured for Ireland ‘A’ in 2012, he earned a senior call-up and first cap during the 2013 Six Nations, and made his debut off the bench in Ireland’s deflating defeat to Italy in Rome.
Eight months later he picked up his second and final cap, replacing Mike Ross in the final quarter of another defeat, this time a 32-15 loss to Australia at the Aviva Stadium.
Archer would go on to earn a call-up for the extended squad in 2014, and featured for Emerging Ireland the following year, but it was as far as his Test career would go.
"I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves," says Sherry.
"I think it probably relates back to when he got his first two caps. He was inexperienced and I do think he got a bit of harsh criticism from fairly high-profile pundits and journalists, which might have stuck to him from an international point of view.
"There have been times through his career where his performances and consistency have warranted inclusion and caps, and I think if he had got a couple of runs with Ireland, who knows how far he could have gone."
Archer turns 36 in January, and the return of John Ryan last summer, coupled with the signing of Oli Jager from the Crusaders, suggests this may be his final season at the province.
The province have been reliant on the experience of him and Ryan in recent season, but Roman Salanoa showed promise in the title-winning season while recent academy recruit Ronan Foxe has been ear-marked as someone with big potential after featuring for Ireland U20 during their run to the Junior World Championship final.
If that pair are to take the next step, Kyriacou believes Archer’s fingerprints will be all over it.
He said: "The fella is one of the best. He's incredibly giving with his time to younger players, he's very welcoming and friendly to new people into the building.
"He's just a brilliant human to have in the building and incredibly lucky to be working with someone like that on a daily basis. We know it as coaches and the playing group as well.
"We understand what it is to have someone like that in the building."
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