The outings are becoming more sporadic for David Humphreys these days, which, like others in his position on Saturday, perhaps adds more pressure on him to make the most of his chances. In truth, it took him a while to find his bearings, but all the while his radar off the kicking tee has never been better.
On days such as Saturday, Lansdowne Road - with its exposed structure - must be about the most difficult rugby ground in the world for kickers.
For Humphreys to land nine from nine, including two from opposite touchlines, was quite remarkable. It continues a rich vein of kicking form which has seen him land 32 out of 37 kicks this season, and extends his current streak to 22 in a row. In the process, he became the first Irish player to break the 500-point barrier.
A rueful Tom Billups, the USA Eagles coach, simply called Humphreys' 20-20 vision and 20-point haul simply "world-class", while Eddie O'Sullivan observed: "At the start of the game he looked a bit rusty but as the game went on, he grew and grew in stature, and I thought he finished the game like he was really controlling it. Some of his line kicking in the second half was monstrous, and nine out of nine off the ground on a day like today is incredible."
Not alone was this Humphreys' first start since the World Cup pool match against Argentina - 11 Tests ago - it was also his first game in three weeks.
Electing to play into the wind was a fruitful strategy, though as Humphreys added: "I'm not making excuses, but you'd rather nearly play with the wind when you haven't played for a while."
Last week's performance by the front-line team only heightened the pressure.
"Every time a team plays very well when you come in the next week, you want to do it. I personally think it was probably the best (Irish) performance I have ever seen in all the time I have been involved, so as an individual you don't want to drop below that."
Of the half-century for his country? "It's like all the records that have come and gone, Ronan (O'Gara) is only a couple of games behind and it will not stand for long. When I look back, I never thought I'd kick three points for Ireland, never mind 500, so I'm delighted with that. But more delighted with the win."
Perhaps a tad frustrated with his relative inactivity of the last season or more, at 33 he surely just wants to cram in as much rugby as he still can, though being the spritely, clean-living fellow that he is, he's in no hurry to hang up his record-breaking boots.
"What's the best way of putting it? The option of going and sitting in an office all day? I'll leave it at that. It's a fantastic lifestyle and I still enjoy it as much as I did 10 years ago. You want to play every week, but to be part of the Irish squad at the minute is very exciting and I've a contract for another 18 months so I'll be looking forward to playing as long as I can."
