Andy Farrell has selected his 35-man squad for Ireland's Six Nations closers against Italy and France later this month.
While interest in this year's competition sagged following the one-sided loss in Twickenham - before it was emphatically placed on the back-burner by the pandemic - Ireland can still win this year's Six Nations title.
Given that bonus point victories in both games will almost certainly be required, the public aren't holding out too much hope on the prospect.
At this early stage in the 'World Cup cycle', Farrell appears to turning his face towards the future and has selected six uncapped players for the upcoming winter.
Who are the winners and losers?
Winners
Jamison Gibson Park
The man who, in the online world of limited character space, is known as JGP has been selected for the Ireland squad for the first time, a year after became eligible for selection.
His leap-frogging of John Cooney - of which more, later - is proving unsurprisingly controversial among fans who find the residency rule still hard to stomach.
While he's been involved in a Campbell-Ward ding-dong with fellow Leinster scrum-half Luke McGrath over the past year or so, this squad announcement has marked a decisive victory for the NZ-born player.
Gibson-Park did start in Leinster's handy victory over Ulster in the Pro14 final and there was much talk that he hadn't been brought on early enough for the Champions Cup quarter-final loss to Saracens.
Judged from that perspective, it isn't that surprising he's gotten the nod ahead of McGrath.
Ryan Baird
The youngest player on the squad, Baird turned 21 in July. When Ireland last won the Six Nations championship in 2018, Baird was still playing Leinster Schools Cup rugby.
His St. Michael's team, for those interested, choked in horrific fashion against Belvedere in the semi-final, a result which, if Brian O'Driscoll's later life is any guide, young Baird will never be allowed to forget.
The back rower made his Leinster debut against Ulster late in the 2018-19 season and is now been elevated to the position of replacement back-rower for European games, knocking Scott Fardy out of the match-day 23 for the Saracens game.
Shane Daly
After all the wailing and gnashing of teeth about the state of Munster Rugby's production line,, the despondent talk about having to rely on Leinster cast-offs, Shane Daly has emerged.
The versatile 23-year old Munster player was playing for Cork Constitution at AIL and Munster Senior Cup level not that long ago but has been a clear-breakout player for Johann Van Graan's side this season.
Man of the Match in the opening day Pro14 win over the dismal Dragons last year, he held the full-back jersey in the closing stages of the season this year.
While he can also play at wing and centre, it is full-back where he likely contests for places this winter.
Ed Byrne
Sean O'Brien departed for London Irish last year, effectively ending his involvement with Ireland for the time being.
Carlow might have assumed their county's direct interest in Irish international rugby was done and dusted for this generation but 27-year-old Ed Byrne has made the step-up to this grade, albeit as a beneficiary of Dave Kilcoyne's absence through injury.
Byrne made his provincial debut against Zebre back in 2014 and has been a fringe player around the squad for most of the intervening period but in 2020 has been drafted in as cover at loose-head for Cian Healy.
Losers
John Cooney
With Murray under increasing pressure in the No. 9 shirt, the clamour back in spring for Cooney to be elevated to first-choice scrum-half was growing louder and louder.
Seven to eight months later and Cooney is not even being grouped among the nation's top three scrum-halves. The pandemic certainly interrupted what was a rich vein of form in the first half of the 2019-20 season and the Ulster scrum-half has not been operating at the same level since the resumption.
Perhaps the ultimate verdict on his dip in form was his omission from the Ulster team for the Pro14 final, with Alby Mathewson picked in his place.
Cooney admitted this call by coach Dan McFarland dented his confidence and was harder to stomach than missing out on the 2019 World Cup.
The news today will come as another blow.
Jack McGrath
Today's squad isn't well populated by Ulster-based players - though Stuart McCloskey's arrival in the centre bucks that trend. Jack McGrath, however, is to miss out.
The prop joined Ulster in 2019 and Dan McFarland has heralded his impact with the northern province.
The 30-year-old McGrath has made 56 appearances for Ireland since his debut in 2013, albeit roughly half of them as a replacement.
However, on this occasion, Farrell has favoured younger players like Andrew Porter and Ed Byrne, with the Aussie-born Finlay Bealham picked for his versatility and ability to play at both tight and loose-head.
Devin Toner
After years of being a mainstay of Joe Schmidt's Ireland teams as they collected three Six Nations titles and repeatedly topped the big beasts of the Southern Hemisphere, Toner was controversially excluded from the 2019 World Cup squad.
The fact that he was dropped in place of a South African-born project player who had just become eligible under the residency rule didn't help matters either.
Now, Toner has been omitted again. With 70 caps under his belt and now in his mid-30s, it's doubtful whether Toner will break back into the squad.
Quinn Roux, Tadhg Beirne, Iain Henderson and the peerless James Ryan are the preferred options in the second row.
Luke McGrath
As Jamison Gibson Park is the winner in this winter selection, then Luke McGrath must be the loser. Farrell picked three scrum-halves from a possible five and Cooney and McGrath are the ones to miss out.
Of Leinster's three biggest games since the re-start - the Pro14 semi-final and finals against Munster and Ulster, and the Champions Cup quarter-final against Saracens - McGrath was the starting No. 9 in two of them.
However, the Kiwi impressed in the handsome win in the Pro14 final and McGrath was part of the generally shaky effort in the first half against Saracens.
