It was a long day for James Lentjes, and the final 20 minutes seemed to take an age.
The Taieri flanker made his debut for the Highlanders on Saturday night, wearing the No 7 jersey that has been worn by some pretty handy Otago tearaways - think Josh Kronfeld, Josh Blackie, Alando Soakai and others.
But Lentjes showed he was fit to pull on the jumper.
He was one of the best for the Highlanders in their 39-21 win over the Stormers at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
Lentjes (23), who made his first class debut only eight months ago, said he enjoyed the occasion and was hungry for more.
''It was awesome to get a win and to get a five pointer was a bonus. I'm just proud to make my debut for the Highlanders,'' Lentjes said.
''They [coaches] told me to go out there and back myself, do what I have been doing that got me there.
''I woke up about seven this morning and that was it, no more sleep. It was a long day ... but I just kind of tried to keep busy. I just did anything to keep my mind off it.''
Lentjes said it was a definite step up from club rugby.
''Everyone is so much bigger, so much faster,'' but he was happy with his game.
The lungs, though, were getting sore near the end of the match.
''That last 20 minutes would have been the longest 20 minutes I have played in my life, I reckon. I was trying to do my part. Nasi [Manu] went down early so we knew we would have to go the full 80. We knew we would have to empty the tank.
''We knew they had to make the trip over here, so we backed ourself to have more in the tank and 60 minutes in, we were all over them.''
Lentjes said family and friends came down from Christchurch to watch his debut.
The Highlanders, in the end, won the match comfortably, and had more match winners on the park.
Wingers Patrick Osborne and Waisake Naholo were lethal and made ground every time they got the ball.
First five eighth Lima Sopoaga also impressed, while flanker Elliot Dixon and lock Tom Franklin got through plenty of work.
Naholo's two tries in six minutes gave the home side breathing space and it eventually kicked away.
He intercepted a poor De Jongh pass and sprinted 45m to dive under the posts.
Right on the stroke of halftime, Aaron Smith put in a chip kick down the blindside and through a deflection, Naholo gobbled it up. He ran over the top of Stormers fullback Cheslin Kolbe to score the try.
From there, the Highlanders never looked back.
Super rugby
The scores
Highlanders 39
Waisake Naholo 2, Aaron Smith, Patrick Osborne, Dan Pryor tries; Lima Sopoaga 4 con, pen, Marty Banks pen
Stormers 21
Juan De Jongh 2, Michael Rhodes tries; Kurt Coleman 2, Demetri Catrakillis con
Halftime: Highlanders 24-7.
Crowd: 10,200