Had you suggested to Jeff Thwaites at the start of this year that within three months he'd be packing his bags for the bright lights of Tokyo and making a Super Rugby debut, he could quite conceivably have inquired as to what illicit substance you had been dabbling in.

The 25-year-old Bay of Plenty prop was set for another club season with Te Puna, fitting training in around his day job as a sparky for ABS Electrical in Tauranga.

But just one day back from his summer holidays the Chiefs came calling. Previously part of the franchise's development team, it was another chance for Thwaites to upskill, spending a couple of weeks as part of the wider squad.

However, things then quickly got serious, with a propping injury crisis hitting the team. When Nepo Laulala was the latest casualty, breaking his arm against the Blues earlier this month, Thwaites was in fulltime and about to be thrust into action.

"Yeah, it's pretty unreal eh. Just gone from working a couple of weeks ago to this," says Thwaites.

"The boss is pretty good, he lets me swan in and out and do a bit of part-time.

"[I'll] just keep in contact and hope I've got a job when I go back."

Just when that will be is now up in the air, though, with a door now opened for him into the professional rugby ranks.

The 1.90m, 120kg tighthead was immediately awarded a place in the reserves for last Friday's match against the Bulls, but in the end didn't actually get on the park - a rare occurrence in this day and age, where benches are regularly emptied. Not that Thwaites was too bothered.

"Oh nah, that's how it goes sometimes with debuts, when it's a tight game like that, and it was definitely going down to the wire," he says of the Chiefs overturning a 28-14 halftime deficit to win 41-28.

However, Thwaites managed to get on the field when the Chiefs beat the Sunwolves at Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Japan's capital last night.

It's not a bad rise up the ranks for a man who only moved into the front row from the loose forwards just a few years back.

"I think one club season we had not a lot of props going around, so I just jumped in and gave it a crack," Thwaites says, before unleashing this golden gem:

"It's not a bad lifestyle, eh, playing prop, you get to eat a bit more and run a bit less."

Thwaites grew up idolising Bay of Plenty players such as Glen Jackson, Wayne Ormond, Colin Bourke and Ben Castle, while his father, Don, played 17 games for the province from 1985-86.

And with fellow Steamers front rowers Aidan Ross, Nathan Harris and Liam Polwart all in the Chiefs' lineup, Thwaites can ease a few nerves, just focusing on his task ahead.

"It's just more about learning your role within the team structures and making sure you've got that nailed, and then you can just slot in and execute it when you do get your chance," he says.

"I've just got to keep working hard, and obviously make it pretty seamless when I do fill in, and I can just learn as much as I can off senior boys and coaches.

"You've got Hoefty [assistant coach Carl Hoeft] there, he's the dedicated scrum coach, so after trainings you're looking at footage with him, so it's pretty good."

- Stuff