Jamie Roberts admits that he had no idea if he was going to be ready to face Ireland on Sunday but was pleased to make the starting XV.
The 25-year-old has been struggling with a knee injury for the past month and has played no competitive rugby since Christmas, and a few pundits feel it is a bit of a gamble to throw him into such an important match with little preparation.
The Cardiff Blues centre has only just started serious training and admits that a trip to Europe helped him convince the selectors that he was good to go.
"It was touch and go," he said. "I haven't played any competitive rugby since late December, but I went to Poland last week and had some good conditioning and recovery work.
"I started running at the end of the week and I have done some full contact work this week."
The talented three-quarter says that he might struggle to get into the game early on but feels his body will adapt as the match progresses.
"I am sure I will be blowing a bit in the first 10 minutes, but then I will settle down," he added.
"I hope I am good enough after six to eight weeks out."
Rhys Priestland suffered knee trouble during a Heineken Cup game two weeks ago but will also be risked against the men in green. However, flanker Dan Lydiate misses the trip to Dublin because of an ankle problem.
Wales have lost a number of players from their World Cup squad and despite beating Ireland in the quarter-finals in New Zealand last year, they will be the underdogs going into the Aviva Stadium clash.
Roberts admits that it is no good for Wales resting on their laurels and he believes that a similar performance to that which saw them triumph over Ireland last time will not be enough to claim the spoils this time around.
"We not only need to emulate that World Cup game, but also improve on it, because nothing less will do," he added.
"We need to produce the perfect game to beat Ireland, that is what it will take.
"We were very close to being perfect in the World Cup game, and we all need to put our hands up and produce again."