They say time waits for no man and for Craig Casey his moment appeared to be slipping like grains of sand through uncertain fingers.

As the clock ticked down on an overly nervy win for an uninspiring constrained Irish side against a joyously liberated Japan, two equally anxious parents in the stand were not alone in cheering the desperately required late penalties from Joey Carbery that soothed the fretful few sprinkled in the stadium.

Gerry and Sineád Casey were buried in other fretful thoughts too, wondering if their boy might get his chance.

This wouldn’t be his first time in green but it felt like it; Casey’s debut had arrived in the locked down Eternal City earlier this year, far away from home and human touch.

But this felt different because they were there, mere feet away in the stand behind where the subs were themselves fretting anxiously, as their team dithered uncertainly on an afternoon of too many imponderables.

And then, suddenly, they saw him slowly disrobe and prepare for action; there were less than two minutes left but such a golden time for a close-knit family who have had to watch so much of his accelerated development from a social distance.

They all wallowed in every second – even if there were only 87 of them.

“It was great,” enthuses Casey, surely primed to start this weekend against the USA.

“I know there were only 3,000 people in there but just the roar of a crowd again is so good. We were so happy to just have a crowd in again, 3,000 was great.

“Hopefully with the 6,000 this weekend and playing in front of my parents…I actually had ten people there. Somehow they managed to all get tickets.

“My two mad rugby cousins, who are seven and five, were there, and the seven-year-old knew every single player on the pitch on Saturday. So it was great to have him in as well. It’s class to play in front of family and hoping to do so again this weekend.”

Normally, himself and his dad would de-brief post-match; re-watching the game a day later, pausing and parsing the DVD. The bubble bursts this notion, for now; maybe next Sunday, when there will be much more to analyse.

“Normally I sit down and watch the game with him the day after,” says the 22-year-old, whose first lessons were absorbed in Shannon’s Coonagh field before he had even started school.

“He can give me his opinion on how I did and what I need to do better, because I've always gone to him with those things, so that doesn't change.

"I definitely don't try and keep him away. He was coaching me up until U19s, so I have a really strong rugby relationship with him.

“I'd go to him with anything I need, but obviously he doesn't know what is going on in camp so he can't tell me what to do with the gameplan either, so he leaves that to me and all the team.

“He just texted me after the game, he was really proud and glad to get into the Aviva the other day and watch me sing the national anthem for the first time. So it was great to have him there and hopefully he'll be there on Saturday as well.”

Casey acknowledges the reasons for his late arrival; with two backs down, stuttering Ireland couldn’t afford a last quarter catastrophe and so the Munster man had to bide his time.

Halfway through a World Cup cycle, this Irish team remain more desperate for wins than performances.

“I understood the situation,” he concedes. “Obviously Chris Farrell went down pretty early with a head knock, Billy Burns came into the team and Joey Carbery moved to centre so that was a bit weird.

“And then with Jordan Larmour off early with his injury, it’s just about the team at that stage. We wouldn’t have wanted to see a forward on the wing or playing with 14 men with ten minutes to go against a Japan side.

“Obviously you want more minutes, every player wants to play as much as they can. For the team’s sake, it’s the only thing that could have happened. Luckily we got the win and it paid off. So no complaints there, really.”

Ireland continue to regularly talk a world-class game but have only occasionally played one since Andy Farrell and Mike Catt assumed charge.

Catt is seeking pace, in particular from his nines.

“They’re quick to the ball and their skill-set is exceptional, their passing, distribution and understanding of the game has been very impressive," he said.

“We want to play the game quick rather than be hanging around and the three nines we have complement that at the moment.”

Theory hasn’t always translated into practise; one hopes the whirling dervish who so thrilled in early season with Munster is not subsumed by the sluggish structures which still strait-jacket the national team.

“I think we’re getting there to be honest,” Casey demurs, as he must. “We’re starting to play an attractive style.

“Under Andy Farrell, he’s all about playing to the space early, whether that’s kicking, passing or running. So it’s up to us to take the opportunities that are given. Like we scored five tries at the weekend and it could easily have been eight.

“They want all of our scrum-halves to be playing fast so that we can play to the space. I think that's about it really.

“Like, the coaches are always on to us about just being ourselves, whether that is on the field or off the field, so obviously being myself, I like to play quick, I like to fling out passes, so I think that fits in well with what the coaches want here as well.

“They all want the nines to be playing quick, get our forwards on top of other teams and play to the space early. So hopefully I can do that.”

This time a year ago, he was tipped to challenge Conor Murray, who is now a Lions captain; his goals are unchanged, however, and he is right to articulate them.

“We're all keen to show our hand but it's got to be in the team performance. You can't go off on your own and just try things that aren't on. If I’m given the opportunity I’d hope to grab it with both hands to be honest and stay in that position for the next few years.

“It’s class to see Conor over captaining the Lions. But I’d be hoping to put some pressure on him this weekend.”

He references Aaron Smith and Antoine Dupont as inspirations; the latter little genius this week posted on social media a clip of his breath-taking dive into the water from a Corsican cliff, akin to some sort of daredevil.

The impish, intuitive Casey has a bit of the devil about him too and, in his own way, will be keen to make a significant splash this weekend.