Help! Rockshox Reba wiper seal replacement nightmare

I have a pair of 2007 Reba Races I bought recently so decided to give them a lower leg service and change the wipers, easy I thought according to the Rockshox YouTube videos.
So after dropping the lowers I tried to remove the old wiper seals as shown only for the to pretty much disintegrate and have to be pulled, cut and levered out in bits leaving a 5mm ish metal ring inside the fork leg top and a space for the new foam ring.
I got the correct new wiper seal for this model and year but the wiper is too big by a mm or two to go in the internal metal ring. Didn’t want to give it to much brute force but as the seal is pretty rigid I am having no luck getting it in.
So am I doing something wrong apart from doing me myself in the first place as I am getting increasingly upset by my seeming ineptitude am considering binning the whole thing am buying some replacements, if only Herc Castro was here to help!

Warm the seal in hot water – then try ? They are tough to get in !

Hope free hub seal tool is handy for fitting new seals I’ve found. Maybe someone local has one

3 piece seal kit or 2 piece?

Pollex-based brute force and a little grease on the sides of the wiper seal is my method…did it for my Revs the other night; my thumbs are still hurting

PVC plumbing pipe and stick the seal in the freezer for an hour or so first.

Two piece set, I have one of the Hope seal tools luckily as I have been trying to fix mine and the kids bikes myself which is just the right size.
I will give it a try with the hot water treatment and the freezer too followed by brute force and ignorance, first time something has beaten me so far. 🙂