So, imagine you're selecting the Wales World Cup squad and you've decided to take, let's say five, back three players to Japan.
George North goes. Liam Williams goes. Josh Adams goes. And let's assume a fit Leigh Halfpenny goes.
One space is therefore up for grabs. Do you take Hallam Amos, Jonah Holmes, Steff Evans....or Owen Lane?
There is, of course, no right or wrong answer.
But of that remaining four, I would be amazed if Warren Gatland does not currently see Lane at the head of the queue.
Every now and again a young rugby player comes along with the ability to, quite literally, make pulses quicken every time he receives the ball.
In an era of uniform physical conditioning, academy conveyor belts are more at risk of churning out clones than ever, but occasionally something different emerges, something special.
Watching Lane in full flight for Cardiff Blues against the Scarlets on Friday night left me concluding that he shouldn't just be scraping into the Wales World Cup squad but inked in already.
In terms of wing play Adams is flavour of the month after his Six Nations exploits, and deservedly so.
And the way the Worcester wide man has blossomed on the international scene has been one of the major positives for Gatland this season.
What a treat the Arms Park faithful are in for watching him and Lane in tandem on either side of the pitch next season.
But as good as Adams is, of the two, Lane seems to have more to offer.
Another product of the Whitchurch High School hall of fame that gave us Sam Warburton, Gareth Bale and Geraint Thomas, Lane is still only 21.
And yet he has the physique, on-field swagger and belligerence of someone far more senior.
He is quick. He is big. He is brave. He is powerful. He is the sort of winger Gatland has always gone for. But then again he is the sort of winger any coach worth his salt would go for.
Lane made his Blues debut in 2016 but will still be viewed by many as something of a newcomer. However, he looks as ready for Test combat as he will ever be.
We know that he is on the Wales radar. Injuries denied him a squad place on last summer's tour and again in the autumn. Lane was not long back from injury when the Six Nations party was named, and so was likely deemed not quite up to speed.
But when the World Cup warm-up games come around, fitness permitting he must surely be handed his chance.
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Lane credits time spent on the Sevens circuit with having sharpened up his speed and skill and given that he played all his formative rugby years at outside-centre, he is being tipped as a potential heir apparent to Jonathan Davies.
For now though, he is very much seen as a winger having taken an opportunity to fill in there when the Blues were stretched in that position last season.
Like many who switch positions, Lane took some time to adjust. He had a tendency to get caught out defensively in early games, succumbing to his natural instinct to drift inside.
Yet Friday night showed just how much he has developed. Lane, for the most part, stuck rigidly to the touchline, keeping his width and giving his marker Ioan Nicholas a torrid time.
His run and clever one-handed off-load to set up Josh Turnbull's try further emphasised his progress. It also underlined that, together with his physical attributes, Lane possesses an astute rugby brain and the speed of thought required to outwit modern defensive systems.
It would be foolish to think he does not have areas still to work on, and assimilating into a squad as tight, as demanding and as culturally bonded as the present Wales set-up has to be a gradual process.
But Lane has just enough time to do that between now and the World Cup. And he is surely ready for that opportunity.
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