The 21-year-old prop this season broke into the Ulster senior team following on his appearances for Ireland at under-21 level in both last season's Six Nations Championship and the SANZAR Under-21 tournament in Argentina during the summer. During the latter, Best played in four and a half matches out of five, a tremendous achievement given the quality of the opposition.

But it is Best's progress in the last six months that marks him as a player of potential. Dropped during the Six Nations, he addressed his scrummaging problems and arrived in Argentina a technically better prop. Still in the embryonic stage of his career, he won't have enjoyed suffering at the hands of the Bourgoin pack on Saturday night. "Every time you face someone different you learn. This was another experience which will hopefully make me stronger," he said.