It's not going to matter tomorrow but Johnny Sexton and Andy Farrell have been in discussions about the Ireland out-half's goal-kicking.
The 38-year-old skipper will return to action for their World Cup opener against Romania in Bordeaux tomorrow (2.30pm) after six months on the sidelines through a combination of injury and suspension.
After finding himself beneath a host of England players in a vain attempt to stop a try in their Six Nations meeting last March, Sexton soon realised that he was in trouble.
He injured hip adductors – muscles that run from pelvis to knee – and that's a particularly sensitive area for dead-ball kickers.
The Six Nations top points scorer (562) was operated on by a specialist in the UK and is now fully healed.
But the subject of how he should ease his way back to a full swing was on the menu.
Asked if he was able to go through a normal kicking practice session, Sexton smiled and turned to head coach Farrell, who was seated beside him.
"Less than what he thinks. Was you in our conversation three days ago?" said Farrell, also with a grin.
In total, Sexton is second behind Ronan O’Gara as Ireland’s all-time top points scorer. He stands on 1050 and needs 34 more to overtake the former Munster out-half.
From that tally Sexton has kicked 211 penalties, 165 conversions and four drop goals, a sum of 975 points.
"I haven’t changed much," said Sexton.
"The early stages, I had to be very careful on the back of the surgeon’s advice, just making sure I built into it but over the last month I’ve been able to practice a good bit and trying to keep it little and often really.
"Trying to do bits every day, even on a day off today, trying to get down for 20 minutes and do a little bit and then move on.
"I’m very happy with where I’m at, obviously going into a game a little bit different but hopefully I can lean back on experiences from before."
Asked about distance, Sexton referenced a 50-metre effort in the second Test against the All Blacks in 2022 when he hit the woodwork and 60 seconds later, Will Jordan scored a try in the corner for the Kiwis.
"Well, I can’t...you’ve got to be careful here because the lads still give me a slagging about the one that came off the crossbar in New Zealand.
"I don’t think I've lost any range but we won’t find out until the big days."
Barring a catastrophe, there will be no need for any long-range kicks against the Oaks, who are ranked 19th in the world and have not beaten Ireland in nine meetings.
It’s seen as a soft start for Ireland and Farrell insists they must go about their business in the normal fashion.
"For anyone that's watched them it’s pretty clear and obvious that they are a determined group," he said of Eugen Apjok's charges.
"They would say their point of difference would be their power and aggression, their set-piece, they love mauling and scrummaging, they are very direct in the forwards and pretty nippy and dangerous in the backs.
"We’ve scouted them well but at the same time there’s more concentration on ourselves.
"You can’t get ahead of yourself. You have to make sure you play the game how it should be played. With the respect that it needs to be played in.
"The game is going to throw up all sorts of permutations and we’ve got to be on point to be able to adapt and see the pictures in front of us."
Listen to live coverage of Ireland v Romania (Saturday 2.30pm) on RTÉ Radio 1, and follow live updates of that game, France v New Zealand (Friday 8.15pm) and South Africa v Scotland (Sunday 4.45pm) on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News app, with match reports on every game.
