For the majority of Pontypridd's squad, the pre-season campaign read as follows: Pontypool (H), Cinderford (A), Bargoed (H).
Yet, for openside Sion Parry, it was a little different. Take out the clash with Pooler and the trip to the Forest of Dean, and replace it with back-to-back Tests against a Tongan side in the country's capital Nuku'alofa.
Remarkably, just weeks before he throws himself into the new Indigo Premiership season, the back-rower from Rhiwbina was taking on the likes of Malakai Fekitoa, George Moala and Vaea Fifita on the Test stage.
It all stemmed from a call-up by Canada after a highlights reel of Parry in action for Pontypridd was sent to Canada coach Kingsley Jones. The 24-year-old qualifies for Canada through his Ontario-born mother.
"I knew my mother was born there so I knew I was eligible," he said. "But then I'm eligible for other countries - like Scotland through my grandmother - so I'd never really thought about it until I got the phone call from Kingsley.
"A highlight video was sent to the coaches. Then Kingsley called me and said I could potentially go on tour with them in the summer. It was a possibility so I just took the opportunity.
"I knew the video had been sent to him through a mutual contact, but I didn't know it would come to anything. It was a bit of a shock when it happened."
Having made an impression at Sardis Road with a string of impressive performances, the former Whitchurch High School captain has followed the lead of another openside from the school, Sam Warburton, in progressing to the international game.
However, as his club coach Gareth Wyatt admits, he only accepted the call-up once checking with Ponty first, as Parry didn't want the opportunity to affect his place in the Premiership.
"Sion got a call after Kingsley did his homework," said Wyatt. "To be fair to him, he did check if it was alright to go. I don't think I'd have been checking!
"We've got a Cypriot international in Chris Dicomidis, but Canada are, maybe not now, a big name in world rugby. An opportunity like that is absolutely superb. It's probably just reward for him as he was superb. I think he picked up every award [last season] in the end. It was a disappointing one from a team perspective, but he was outstanding week in, week out."
As well as Kingsley Jones, the Canada coaching set-up is essentially a little slice of Wales, with former Wales assistant coach Rob Howley and analyst Gwern James part of the ticket as well.
As such, the step-up to a full-time environment was made a little easier.
"There was a few Welsh boys there," added Parry. "It was full-on. It was different to your normal job, where you just train Tuesday and Thursday nights after work. It was full-time every day. I enjoyed that part of it. Every part of it was completely scheduled."
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As for the Tests against Tonga, Parry made his debut off the bench in the first Test before being handed a start in the second. Both ended in defeat for Canada, but for Parry, it was an incredible experience nonetheless.
"I came off the bench in the first one and I didn't have to do much," he said. "It was just set-pieces.
"Then I didn't know what happened with the second Test. It was a shock to be picked for the second Test. It was very physical, especially against them, and very quick. But it was good to test yourself against it.
"They're pretty stacked at the moment. There's a few ex-World Cup winners there. I think they had four ex-All Blacks and two ex-Wallabies. [Israel] Folau was injured, but they had Fifita in the second-row and Fekitoa and Moala in the centre. Top players.
"It's definitely different to playing the teams back home. The next game I played after Tonga was against Bargoed in pre-season. Hopefully I get picked again and take that opportunity for more caps, with it hopefully leading up to a World Cup in four years' time."
