Sam Warburton and James Botham's time at the Cardiff Blues barely overlapped.
But fate drew the pair together on a couple of important occasions.
The former Wales captain has said he knew that Wales' latest debutant was going to a "top-quality player" after just a day of training.
While it was also a training drill with Botham that brought Warburton to the conclusion that he could no longer carry on with the sport.
Back-rower Botham will start against Georgia to win his first cap for Wales, having been called up officially to Wayne Pivac's squad earlier this week.
And Warburton, who until the start of this autumn campaign had been working with Pivac's coaching ticket, has spoken about the 22-year-old - who he says has been on the New Zealander's radar for a year.
In his column for the Times, Warburton explained that he first came across Botham after returning to Cardiff Blues following the 2017 Lions tour.
Unaware of why the new face already had a boot deal, the two-time Lions captain soon learnt of Botham's sporting pedigree - and it wouldn't be long before he discovered his talent on the pitch.
"We did a circuit session together one day and he was just so explosive", wrote Warburton.
Referring to the sporting genes of his grandfather, former England cricketer Lord Botham, and father, former Cardiff RFC winger Liam, then Warburton was left asking the question: "If Jim isn’t going to make it, who is?"
"I rang my agent, the former Wales lock Derwyn Jones, who is always on the lookout for young players, and asked him if he had seen this kid," he added.
"He hadn’t. I said, 'Well, I think you should take a look because he is really good. He’s just got it. This kid is going to make it'."
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Warburton's predictions have quickly proven to be accurate - with the former back-rower adding that there was "no doubt in my mind that he was going to be a top-quality player".
Remarkably, a year after initially impressing Warburton on his return to the Arms Park side from New Zealand, it was Botham who ultimately made the flanker consider his own future.
After a year of not playing following the Lions tour, Warburton had targeted a return to playing with a pre-season for Cardiff.
However, he ultimately made the decision to retire at the age of 29.
And it was a wrestling drill with the young Botham that brought him to that difficult decision.
"This is such a random picture," he told the Cardiff Blues website earlier this year.
"That's me and Jim Botham in one of my last two days of training at Cardiff Blues.
"So I had my big break after the Lions tour where my body was in bits. I came back and I was doing this wrestling drill and I was miles off the pace.
"My body couldn't get back. I remember staring at the grass, thinking that was it. I didn't contribute.
"I knew that was my last day so it was quite sad.
"No one knew around me that it was my last day but deep down I knew that was the end of my career."
