He's Irish rugby's comeback kid - and Sean Cronin wants to show he can still be a contender.
The Leinster hooker made his first Six Nations start at the age of 32 in Rome in February.
But the game didn't go well for him and he was dropped from the Ireland squad for the last two games against France and Italy.
He's just glad that it is Leinster he's got to come back to, and the promise of a big end of season series that could result in another double.
And if not? "Well I'd probably be working in KPMG or somewhere like that...and that's not knocking KPMG," he grinned.
Although Ireland won at the Stadio Olimpico, it was a disjointed performance. Cronin doesn't feel that he took the blame for it.
"I was disappointed, obviously, but no, not scapegoated," said the Limerick man. "You've just gotta deal with it.
"Even when I was dropped the year before last, I just looked at it as a chance to get back here and that's the way I look at it now.
"It's grand. Whatever happened, happened.
"I'm a pretty mentally resilient type of guy that I can learn from stuff that's happened and from mistakes that I've made - try and put in my best performance here, try not to dwell on it. Just apply yourself when you come back.
"You've gotta take the highs with the lows and just try and get better.
"Don't sulk, don't get too down on yourself - just look at the next time as an opportunity to prove yourself. That's what I'm trying to do here.
"To be honest, since I've come back from the Six Nations, I wouldn't be singing or dancing, going around the place - my form has been okay, I'd like to be playing a bit better.
"But it's the character of the person that if you can deal with those lows as best you can and apply yourself and just back yourself, that's all you've got to do.
"I've the opportunity to play in some of the biggest club rugby games coming up and if I'm there worrying about what happened there in February, that's not going to be good for anyone.
"So it's fully behind me. There's not that many other clubs playing in semi-finals this weekend."
Already behind Ireland skipper Rory Best in the pecking order and with Munster's Niall Scannell and Ulster's Rob Herring also fighting for a place on the plane to Japan, Cronin needs to remind Joe Schmidt what he brings to the table in Leinster's big end of season games.
Starting on Sunday at Lansdowne Road.
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"I'm maybe going to catch up with Joe, he went back to New Zealand for a few weeks," said Cronin.
"So I'll probably touch base with him before the season is over just to get a run down about how it ended and stuff like that.
"I talked to him. I'm still firmly in the mix as long as I perform. That’s all I can do and that's fair enough, I suppose."
What Cronin has displayed is remarkable resilience to keep taking the shots and coming back for more.
Early in his Leinster career, after moving from Connacht, he found himself in a regular bench role.
Offers came in from elsewhere, most notably from Dan McFarland when the current Ulster head coach was in charge of Glasgow.
"It's an incredible environment here, top coaches, top players - look who you are playing with," Cronin exclaimed.
"I backed myself. I had that belief that if I kept plugging away and kept playing well and got chances here and there I would eventually maybe force my way in.
"I wanted to stay here. I enjoy it here. I have family here now, obviously. I liked it here too much. It's a pretty good environment to be part of".
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