And so Andy Farrell's second season in charge of Ireland is about to begin. Wales are the opposition on Sunday at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff as both sides begin their Six Nations campaign.
The view of most is that the visitors will come away with the victory in the Welsh capital. That assertion is based on 2020 form, with Andy Farrell's men winning more games, including the wins over Wayne Pivac's side in the Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup.
That said, England and France lead the way in the pecking order ahead of the battle for European supremacy. Ireland, the best of the rest, we are told. Time then for the Irish to close the gap, according to Eddie O'Sullivan, time for Farrell's plan to offer more tangible results in the weeks ahead.
The former Irish coach, speaking on RTÉ Radio's Today Programme, said: "Farrell is into his second season so we should be able to see things fall into place. Okay, last year was disrupted with Covid, but it was the same for everybody. We have won most of our games but they are against teams we have a good record against like Scotland, Wales and Italy.
"Against the big guns like England and France, we've been really poor. We have lacked consistency - different parts of our game going wrong on different days. Some days it's the lineout, some days it's the defence.
"People are now looking for things to come together. We should be competing with England and France - but we are not at the races. The pressure is now coming. Our attack has been stop-start. We need to deliver solid performances over a number of games - no bungee cord up and down performances."
In naming his team to face the Welsh, Andy Farrell went for James Lowe on the wing ahead of Jordan Larmour. Josh van der Flier at No 7 and Tadhg Beirne in the second row.
O'Sullivan felt Larmour was "unlucky" to lose out.
"Lowe has been out injured, so it's a big decision in putting him in without having so many games under his belt," he added:
"Farrell obviously feels he's ready for it, but Larmour will feel unlucky that he didn't make it."
As for the other selections: "I think Caelan Doris not being involved has opened up the back row.
"Then he had a choice with the openside. Does he go with a pure openside like Josh van der Flier who is really good at the breakdown or go for a big ball carrier likes Rhys Ruddock or Will Connors. He's gone with Van der Flier because Wales have Justin Tipuric who is a good No 7 as well. That will be a battle."
"Tadhg Beirne has played his way into the second row over Iain Henderson, but Beirne could play back row too. I always felt he would go for Beirne in the second row because it brings an extra back row into the game and a better lineout presence."
Earlier this week, Johnny Sexton said: "Wales have made it clear that Ireland are up there on the list of most disliked teams". The line does fit into the narrative that in recent matches there is no love lost between the pair. O'Sullivan, however, sees no such disharmony and instead highlights the "huge respect" that both camps have for each other.
"It probably goes back to 2009, when Ireland under Declan Kidney were going for a grand slam against Wales in Cardiff. Warren Gatland, who had won a grand slam with Wales a year earlier, came out with the line that Ireland were the team that Wales disliked the most'.
"It was a bit bizarre because there was no evidence of it and so it has been in the ether even since. I'm surprised Johnny is saying that. Dislike is a very strong word and I think if he had it back he wouldn't say it. Wales might now take it in to the changing room on Sunday. Look, it's over-egging the pudding a little bit.
"Wales would have huge respect for Ireland and vice-versa. The games in recent times have been ding-dong affairs. We have only won once in Cardiff in the last five visits. Johnny's probably trying to get the troops up a bit but I wouldn't read too much into it."
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