Clutching at his knee, desperately fighting off the pain of a torn knee ligament, Kyle Brown saw the chequered flag of his Blitzboks career being waved as he lay prone on the pitch of the Singapore National Stadium.
The 30-year-old forward had just suffered a serious injury in his 65th tournament for South Africa - very similar to the one he suffered at the Cape Town Sevens in 2016 - and the thought dawned on Brown that his 327th match for his beloved country was indeed his last.
After the Cape Town injury, Brown missed the remainder of the 2017 season, in which the Springbok Sevens clinched the World Rugby Sevens Series title.
It was Brown’s second taste of World Series glory, as he had just broken into the Blitzboks ranks when they won the title for the first time in history in the 2008/09 season.
His recovery was hard, but that was the road Brown knew he had to travel. And a run of seven tournaments, including the Commonwealth Games, justified the sacrifices he had made.
When the Blitzboks went back-to-back in winning the World Series again, even more so.
This time though, again broken on a rugby pitch, Brown heard lots of voices in his head.
He explains of that day in April: “To be honest, I thought that was it as the idea was that I would call it a day if I came through the season unscathed.”
As he started his recovery, the will power and desire to beat the odds, grew stronger.
And it finally came to fruition - a second time - when coach Neil Powell named him into the squad to travel to Dubai for the opening leg of the Sevens Series this weekend.
Of his inclusion, Brown says: “It was an incredible feeling.
“The medical staff and our management were wonderful.
“We had set the challenge to play again come Dubai and I am very pleased that I could make it.
“Being back in the fold gives me an ideal opportunity to spend more time on the field with this incredible bunch of people and to do something with them we all love - throwing the rugby ball around a bit.”