When DTH van der Merwe flicked his roommates' agent an email last year it opened the door to the professional rugby career he'd dreamed of as a youngster growing up in South Africa.
Veteran flanker Aaron Kleeburger's inbox is still waiting three games into his impressive World Cup campaign.
Welcome to the Canadian rugby squad where professional contracts are won by a combination of word of mouth and blind luck.
''I was in Dubai for the 2009 IRB sevens and my room mate had an agent's phone number and email address,'' van der Merwe said yesterday. ''I actually sent him an email and I think we played Scotland the first game of the tournament and smashed them.
''I don't know if they saw me there, but after that I got a couple of emails, small offers in the championship and then Glasgow came up and I took up the offer of a trial over there.''
That was in 2009 and after two seasons as one of the club's leading try scorers in the Magner's League the 25-year-old centre/wing recently re-signed for another year.
Being noticed is perhaps the biggest challenge for Canada's amateurs. Maybe its why DTH wears florescent boots and has bleached his hair blond.
Maybe its why Kleeburger has the biggest beard since Taranaki lock Jason Eaton shunned the razor a few years back.
It's certainly why Canada's players are salivating at the opportunity to play the All Blacks, to prove themselves, against opposites like Conrad Smith and Jerome Kaino.
Kleeburger's had stints in England, Australia and New Zealand, where he played two games for Auckland early last year, but the big money remains elusive for the British Columbia student.
Perform against the All Blacks on a four day turnaround and it might just tip the balance.
''With professional contracts in Canada there is always going to be a bit of luck involved, being seen at the right time and a club having an opening,'' he said, noting most of Europe's top clubs have just two import spots available and they're usually filled by New Zealanders or Australians.
''But I have this idea in my head that if you are good enough then you will get the chance to play in a big league eventually.
''It's just unfortunate that we don't get as much exposure as those other guys to prove what we are capable of.''
DTH, full name Daniel Tailliferre Hauman van der Merwe is something of a poster-boy though for Canada's unorthodox pathway.
He shifted to the rugby backwater when his father, a doctor, decided to take his family out of Worcester, 150 kilometres from Cape Town, and move to Saskatchewan.
Seventeen at the time, he quickly made his way into the BCI Premiership, Canada's top league.
But he doesn't credit his South African grounding for his development as much as a government funded scheme, similar to the one run by Sparc in New Zealand.
As one of 22 'carded' Canadian rugby players he had his university fees paid and was provided with daily 'rugby specific' training.
Kleeburger is in the same scheme, 7am to noon for training, afternoons for school and weekends for games.
It's a far cry from the All Black outfit they will face with just six of the Canadians playing professionally.
But on the evidence of their matches against Tonga, France and Japan that number is likely to increase in coming years.
It's certainly been noticed in their home land where a television audience of over 200,000 watched their second match against France.
