Hat-trick hero Jack Maddocks might find himself relegated to the Melbourne Rebels' bench, despite helping the Super Rugby side to a 37-17 demolition job on the Sunwolves in Tokyo.
The 21-year-old scored half of their six tries on Saturday afternoon at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium to help secure a bonus point.
This puts the Rebels sit on top of the Australian conference after maximum points from their two outings.
He is the first Rebels' player to score a hat-trick.
And, it's the first time in their eight seasons that Melbourne have opened a season with two-successive wins, thanks to their influx of ex-Western Force stars and new coach Dave Wessels.
But Maddocks, tipped to be the next Wallabies' playmaker, faces being axed from the starting side for next week's home clash with the Brumbies to make way for the return of Test flyer Marika Koroibete from a knee injury.
Wessels said post match he wasn't sure what he would do with his line-up.
The coach was delighted to see his players back up their round-one victory against the Queensland Reds, saying it was important for winning to become a habit.
"We had a good win last week but, as a group, we're probably not that used to winning," Wessels said.
"We've now won twice as many games as the Rebels won last year and it was important to come here and get a bonus point.
"In reality, we're not playing anywhere near the level we set for ourselves but, if we continue to work, it will make that journey a lot easier."
The Sunwolves suffered a horror first half with injuries, losing centre Timothy Lafaele and winger Akihito Yamada to head knocks as well as five-eighth Hayden Parker.
They also had former Force lock Sam Wykes go off with a head injury in the second half.
Maddocks helped to set up his first try in the 10th minute when he threw a cut-out pass to bustling winger Sefa Naivalu, who beat a defender and then tossed it back inside to his teammate.
They were in again three minutes later through their Japanese Test No.8 Amanaki Mafi for a 10-0 lead, with their forwards dominating at the breakdown and set piece.
However, the Rebels continued to kick away possession which suited the attacking style of the Sunwolves and they levelled at 10-10 by halftime thanks to an intercept try by Will Tupou.
But with Test halfback Will Genia again on song, Melbourne adjusted their tactics and came out firing in the second half, with Maddocks running on to some hot backline moves to score two more tries to build the match-winning lead.
Former Reds back-rower Ed Quirk gave the home side something to cheer about with a 79th-minute try but was villain soon after when the Rebels were awarded a penalty try thanks to his deliberate knock-on.