Ireland's new cap is riding the wave of bonus Test time with Andy Farrell's squad
Thomas Clarkson was due to be returning to Leinster after the pre-Autumn Series camp in Portugal but instead was 24th man against the All Blacks, came off the bench - twice - against Argentina and could start against Fiji
This wasn't how Thomas Clarkson's November was supposed to go but he is enjoying the ride.
Clarkson was selected as one of five players in a training group that travelled with Ireland's Autumn Series squad to the Algarve ahead of the opener against the All Blacks.
That's where the journey was supposed to end for him - in the short term, at least - but the day before his team announcement, Andy Farrell took the Leinster prop aside to tell him that he was going to be a part of the week's build-up.
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The door had opened because Tadhg Furlong was not yet ready to return from injury. A head injury to Tom O'Toole, only moments after coming on against New Zealand, opened the door wider.
A week on from the All Blacks game, Clarkson made his Test debut against Argentina - and, after receiving praise from Andy Farrell for his performance, the Leinster front row could make his first Ireland start against Fiji on Saturday.
"I wasn't supposed to be kept on after Portugal, so to be kept on and end up playing it was a bit crazy," the 24-year-old admitted.
"It was just, 'you're staying on'. We were gyming on the Monday and the team was announced Tuesday morning, so he kind of gives lads a heads up about what they are doing.
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"So he was like, 'You're going to be involved, 24th man for the New Zealand game', because obviously Tadhg had been in and out with a few niggles so I was half expecting it.
"It was either me or Jack Boyle because they normally take a tighthead - so I kind of had a rough idea, but he confirmed it there before we left."
O'Toole's injury led Clarkson to believe that he was set for a bench role against the Pumas and so it proved.
In fact, he came on a lot sooner than expected - Finlay Bealham's 24 minute yellow card put Clarkson into the fray for 10 minutes, before he came on for the tighthead for good in the 53rd minute.
He admits the first half cameo didn't really help "Not really to be honest, I had to cool back down and then I had to warm back up," he said.
"I was still pretty nervous coming on. I wasn't expecting 30 minutes as well so I was just trying to just make sure I was going at it from the start.
Probably blew my load a little at the start, I was running around like a headless chicken there for the first 20 minutes, the last 10 I kinda died a little. But I suppose that's what you might expect, first cap.
"Obviously delighted and obviously incredibly grateful to the staff that they put a bit of trust in me, and it was a great day for me and my family and everyone else. I had a big family here for the day - I think there were 10, so it was class."
"It was a bit surreal, like coming out for the anthem, it hadn't been that full for the warm up and then coming out and the fact it was dark as well so that added an extra bit. It was cool."
Farrell later praised Clarkson for his contribution, describing it as a "big old task" done well by the former Ireland under-20s star in dealing with the Puma's tough and tested forward pack and scrum.
It helped that he got the plaudits from his team-mates for an early scrum win.
"Bit unwarranted, I think," Clarkson declared. "Everyone's involved. To come on, scrums hadn't necessarily been going that well during the week, so it was just about trying to make it work on the day and thank God it did.
He described it as a happy dressing-room afterwards. "Like Faz said, and moving on from the All Blacks, three from three is a must now - Argentina, Fiji, Australia.
"We wanted four from four and then having lost last week we needed it. Probably a small bit of relief, in that it went down to the wire, but general happiness.
"Although I am probably looking at it in a different way to most people because it's my first cap, I think everyone is happy. There were so many milestones on Saturday that I feel like you can't help but feel happy."
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