80 minutes have dramatically changed the picture of this season.
The Grand Slam is gone, broken apart once again in round four. And while a third Guinness Six Nations championship is technically still possible for Ireland after Saturday's 42-27 defeat to France, the chances are slim. Third place is arguably more likely than first.
On Thursday, Simon Easterby highlighted the need for control and consistency, after each of the wins against England, Scotland and Wales had featured minor blips, none of which the opposition could fully take advantage of.
On Saturday, Ireland had one of those blips, during which time France ripped them to shreds, scoring 24 points in the space of 11 minutes during the third quarter, as Ireland went from 13-8 in front to 32-13 behind in the blink of an eye.
Playing so much time with 14 players isn't ideal. As we have pointed out consistently for the last year, the trend in Ireland’s discipline has become alarming.
Between the summer of 2021 and through to the World Cup, Ireland picked up just three yellow cards across a span of 27 games. No team in top tier rugby was carded fewer during that period, and no team has been carded more since; with 13 yellow cards and a red in the most recent 15 matches.
Joe McCarthy and Calvin Nash spent time in the sin-bin on Saturday, and in those two 10-minute periods France outscored Ireland a combined 20-0.
Easterby maintains Nash was unlucky to receive a yellow after making head contact with Pierre-Louis Barassi, but he can have absolutely no complaints over the sin-bin received by McCarthy, whose pull-back on Thomas Ramos was the most straightforward yellow card Angus Gardner will hand out in his career.
"We have to be better when we're down to 14 men," the Ireland interim head coach said.
"S**t happens. You get go down on man, you might go down two men, but we can't let that be the reason why we concede those points. We need to make sure we're better at that.
"I don't think you ever go through your career without having a few lows and disappointments and I know that the players will bounce back. They'll be disappointed with what's gone on today but they will want to finish strong."
Had Ireland been more clinical, they may well have been out of sight long before that 24-point French blitz.
In the opening quarter Ireland looked at their very best, as France were stretched and on the back-foot, conceding four penalties and a free-kick in the first 11 minutes, which allowed Ireland multiple looks at the try-line, but they couldn't pull the trigger.
Caelan Doris came closest when he was held up over the line on six minutes by his opposite number Greg Alldritt. Getting held up over the line has been a frustrating feature of Ireland’s campaign, although Easterby (below) doesn’t believe his side have become predictable in attack.
"I don't think so. We weren't far away on a number of occasions and that means that we're probably doing the right thing most of the time.
"But we need to reflect on and look back at where we could have probably gone forward a little bit more from those entries into their 22."
Much was made of the respective bench splits coming into the game, with Ireland gambling on a 6:2 split, while France went even further with a 7:1.
And although it looked in the first half like France would be left to rue that call when Antoine Dupont departed with a serious knee injury, it proved to be a masterstroke when they unloaded six forwards off the bench between the 47th and 49th minute, and scored their third try to kill off Ireland seconds later.
They even played the final 33 minutes with back row Oscar Jegou in the centre after Barassi departed for a HIA, and the La Rochelle man scored his side’s bonus-point try on 58 minutes.
"There's a risk reward isn't there, but whatever you do, there's an advantage and a disadvantage. It's just whether you take the advantage when you've got it or not," Easterby added of France’s powerful bench.
"But it’s genetics as well, we don’t produce guys like [Emmanuel] Meafou and these lads, so do we need to be a more clever team and out-think these teams because we can’t outmuscle them?
"I guess part of winning collisions isn't just about the size of people, it's about understanding how guys around the ball player can affect that as well. So that was part of our challenge."
Ireland’s slim championship hoes now rely on beating Italy while also staying ahead of England on points difference, and they would then require France to lose against Scotland.
And while Easterby admits they can’t decide their own destiny, he’s backing his players to sign the campaign off on a high next week.
"It’s out of our hands.
"They're such good men, they work so hard, they play for each other, they play for their families and friends, they played for Ireland in a way that we've seen across the last couple of years which is an inspiration and it inspires us as coaches, it inspires the back room.
"I guess that's the challenge now, to put that disappointment behind them, of today, and get themselves together, stay nice and tight, understand why we didn't get the result today. Understand how we can get better next week and that's all they're ever about, just getting better whether we win or lose."
