The last time David Humphreys played for Ireland in Italy he collected a broken nose and some "fuzzy" memories but the veteran fly-half is not expecting similar keepsakes from this weekend's RBS 6 Nations trip to Rome.
Eddie O'Sullivan's men fly to Rome today for the match at the Stadio Flaminio on Saturday where they face an Italian side vastly improved under coach John Kirwan and buoyed by last weekend's long-awaited victory over Wales.
It is a far cry from 1997 when the Irish travelled to Bologna for a one-off Test and were beaten 37-22 by a rough and rugged Italy team..
"I played in the defeat in Bologna," Humphreys said. "That's where I ended up with a broken nose. All I can remember is getting punched and then not remembering anything else for the next three or four hours.
"In years gone by that side of their play has been a problem for the Italians but that's certainly not the case now. They beat Wales quite easily last weekend and, in the last 12 months, compared to when we analysed them before the game last year, they've improved immeasurably.
"So it's going to be a huge test physically - they're very big and very strong - and they're going to pose us a lot of the same problems Wales encountered last weekend."
Humphreys will start on Saturday after an ankle injury setback to Ronan O'Gara spared the Ireland management the painful task of choosing between the two.
Having put in a glittering performance against Scotland last Sunday, when he scored 26 points in the 36-6 win at Murrayfield, it would have been harsh to have dropped him and the Ulsterman was understandably delighted at being awarded his 49th cap.
"I heard I was in about an hour before training on Wednesday," Humphreys said. "This is what we play rugby for, you ask any player what their aim is to play and it's international rugby, 6 Nations rugby. So to get another opportunity is everything I wanted."
At the start of the week, when it looked as if O'Gara would be declared fit to be considered for the Italian clash, Humphreys said he had approached the impending selection decision in philosophical mood.
"The way I was dealing with it was that I had come in and tried to match the performances he (O'Gara) had produced and then leave it to the selectors."
He certainly had left them with a dilemma before O'Gara's setback intervened and of his Murrayfield performance, Humphreys said: "I was delighted. We got the win, which was the number one thing, and then after that you look at your own performance and last weekend I thought I did reasonably well."