Paddy Jackson was still in short trousers and more interested in football than rugby when Ulster defeated Colomiers 21-6 to win the 1999 Heineken Cup.
But on Saturday the 20-year-old will start at fly-half for his province after being preferred to Ian Humphreys for Ulster's biggest day in the 13 years since they were crowned European champions.
Ulster tackle Edinburgh at the Aviva Stadium for a place in the Heineken Cup final, where they would face either defending champions Leinster or French giants Clermont Auvergne.
More than two per cent of the population of Northern Ireland are reportedly heading to Dublin in the hope of seeing Jackson pilot Ulster into the Twickenham final on May 19.
Jackson is the youngest member of the squad and he had just turned seven when Ulster beat Stade Francais in the 1999 semi-final.
"I was living in England at the time, we'd moved over there because of my dad's work, and I was more interested in football," he recalled.
"I'm probably the one person in Ulster that doesn't really remember what they were doing in 1999!
"I'm delighted to be starting - I may be the youngest player in the squad but I have a job to do at 10 and I'm very comfortable making the calls.
"I'm playing right alongside Ruan Pienaar, with Paddy Wallace and Darren Cave outside me and Stefan Terblanche behind so there's lots of experience around me.
"When Brian announced that I was starting, Ian was the first person to congratulate me and told me to ask him anything I wanted. It's great to be able to have that sort of support."
Edinburgh may have beaten Toulouse to become the first Scottish team to reach the Heineken Cup semi-finals but their PRO12 form has been poor.
Only Aironi are below them in the table and Edinburgh have managed just five league wins from 21 matches this campaign.
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