Rob Kearney kept calm and carried on while his contract negotiations played out over the last three months.
It was a crucial period on the pitch for Leinster rugby, it being the business end of the season, but it was also a vital time off it for the Louthman who turned 33 a week after the Six Nations ended in March.
Given his age profile, it could potentially be his last deal as a player. While he wanted another two years, he is happy enough - for now - for the security of a 15th season with the Blues after World Cup duty.
Yet having witnessed over the years how these situations play out, Kearney didn't worry about his future during all the toing and froing with IRFU bosses.
"I always remember when I was coming through and starting off early, looking at the older guys stressing and freaking out about what they were going to do in life after," explained the Ireland full-back.
"I promised myself that I’d get my degree out of the way early – I’ve an MBA in Business – so when it was towards the back end of my career, I’d really try to enjoy it instead of worrying about what was going to happen afterwards.
"Just really enjoy the moment, enjoy these great days - because they’re going to be very hard to replicate after rugby."
He's played 209 times already with Leinster - the most recent earning him a fifth domestic winner's medal with PRO14 final success against Glasgow last Saturday. He's also played 90 times for Ireland, and played in three Lions Tests.
Kearney has accumulated four European Cup final wins and one European Challenge Cup win as well at provincial level, plus two Grand Slams among four Six Nations crowns.
He has had to see off rivals to his Ireland post - notably from Jared Payne, who was preferred at centre anyway by Joe Schmidt - while Jordan Larmour and Robbie Henshaw have recently been selected as the green no 15.
But ultimately Kearney remains the man in possession. It gives him satisfaction that over the years to have seen off several contenders.
“Yeah, of course it does," he said.
"If I drew up a list of all the players who’d played full-back for Leinster or Ireland, be it I was out injured or not selected, it’s a pretty big list and some real quality rugby players there.
"It does give you a huge amount of confidence but it doesn’t count for too much going forward. I need to be playing well to nail down those positions."
Larmour could be the man who eventually replaces Kearney - who seems intent on proving next season that he can go on beyond that.
Kearney remarked: “He has a brilliant future, doesn’t he? I thought he was excellent at the weekend, a real mature performance from him.
"We’re all obviously very aware of what he can do with the ball but there’s a huge part of rugby where you don’t have the ball and I thought that area of his game was excellent in Glasgow.
"Obviously there’s a little bit of a responsibility on you to mentor the younger guys - but you don’t want to give them too much, either.
"It’s a tricky one, it is about trying to find the balance and Girvan Dempsey was always excellent with me when I was coming through the ranks early on.
"So certainly trying to pass on a bit to Jordan is something I’ll do more and more over the next year”.
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