It's only been two months or so since Lewis Ludlow earned the first of his two England caps to date, but the flanker's international allegiance had been set in stone long prior to that.
Red Rose coach Eddie Jones was clearly impressed by his leadership skills after captaining Gloucester last season, so much so that he skippered England to wins over Canada and the United States.
Ludlow joined an elite club by becoming the first player in 37 years to captain England on debut, not to mention only the sixth player overall to achieve that feat.
Now 27 years of age, the back-row star may have held some doubts as to whether that debut would come, never mind being awarded the armband along with his first caps.
But Ludlow's international career could have panned out far differently after he opened up regarding the attempts made by Wales to turn his attentions to the other side of the border.
Recruiters weren't the only ones trying to bend his ear, either, as Ludlow recalls his Tredegar-born grandfather, Tony, telling him he would have been better off in Welsh colours.
"I played for Welsh Exiles at U18s," he told the Daily Mail.
"People rang me up and said 'you’re at this in the depth chart in Wales, but if you move here you’ll jump higher'. I was never going to play in Wales, I’m English. I never class myself as Welsh.
"My grandad is and says 'you should have been a red-top!' Yeah, alright, grandad."
The decision to endeavour and remain loyal to his native England has paid off after Ludlow was recently called back into Jones' ranks for a 45-man training camp ahead of the autumn internationals.
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Receiving those summons was no small feat considering Billy Vunipola was one of the high-profile absences, and Ludlow is among a group impressing as part of this new-look England.
That's not to suggest he would have found the back-row competition any easier playing for reigning Six Nations champions Wales, but Ludlow has never swayed regarding whom he wants to represent.
He's still "amazed" to have captained his country on debut in July, the first England player to have done so since Nigel Melville in 1984.
It was all the more surprising for the former England under-18 international given he wasn't expecting the call, with Jones reaching out while he was at a cafe with wife-to-be Bethany and baby daughter Autumn.
"It flashed up 'Eddie Jones'," Ludlow said.
"'Oh my god, what have I done wrong?' was my first thought. He said 'we’re going to make you captain, if you train well you’ll play. You’re not in though, so don’t rest up for the week'."
‘My fiancee looked at me and said 'are you ok?'
‘I couldn’t speak. It took my daughter to mess around with her food to snap me out of it – 'stop it, Autumn!' 'Oh you can speak!'
‘I explained to Bethany, then rang my dad, Paul. I’m very close to him so it was unbelievable to tell him.
“'Are you sure?' he said. 'It’s not Lewis Ludlam?!'"
His Northampton Saints counterpart, Ludlam, is another Premiership captain with similar prospects in England's back row, but it was indeed Ludlow who got the nod to lead his country at Twickenham.
England's first-string ranks will be back for the upcoming autumn internationals against Tonga, Australia and South Africa, for which Ludlow will hope to be in attendance.
It's the second year in a row the Gloucester skipper has been invited for a training camp at this time of year, except this time he hopes it might lead to a place in Jones' Six Nations plans.
Opposite to representing Wales, Ludlow could help England strip their rivals of the crown and is reaping the benefits after keeping the faith that his time to flourish with the Red Rose would come.
