Andy Farrell wasn't happy with the line of questioning when speaking to reporters after Ireland's Autumn Nations Series loss to New Zealand, a result which brought a 19-game winning streak in Dublin to a halt.
"After one game, it’s amazing really isn’t it, that we’re talking about s**t like that," was how he put it when asked if he was worried about the team's future.
He subsequently got the results he wanted but the performances in wins over Argentina and Australia were off the mark, as many players have alluded to in the build-up to the Guinness Six Nations.
There was more to come, they insisted, it wasn’t the end of the line for this bunch of back-to-back champions.
There was some regeneration but lingering in the background was a feeling that we’d been down this road before.
It’s only six years ago, as the wheels came off Joe Schmidt’s Grand Slam vintage class, Irish fans were being assured that it would all come together at the 2019 World Cup: the loss to England was as shock, Wales was a blip, Japan was a jolt to the system and on it went until the inevitable loss to New Zealand in the quarter-final.
When Farrell was named as the Lions coach for the summer tour back in January of 2024, Ireland needed a stand-in, and after taking two Emerging Ireland tours, Simon Easterby emerged as the obvious candidate.
The former flanker had been part of the set-up since 2014 and was not a boat-rocker by any stretch of the imagination.
The first squad was along expected lines and he stuck with 21-year-old Sam Prendergast at out-half, resisting the temptation to reinstall Six Nations ever-present Jack Crowley.
"Simon is an unbelievable coach in terms of being around the dressing room for I’m not sure how many years, a long time," said Robbie Henshaw when asked about the new boss.
Caelan Doris added: "He's got a tonne of respect amongst the players in how he leads our defence and how he is as a person and the one-on-one time he puts in with players, too."
The comments were along party lines but for a team that looked jaded in the autumn, seemingly badly in need of an infusion, Easterby’s succession wasn’t an obvious kick-up-the-backside appointment.
How could Farrell be both the 2023 World Rugby coach of the year, best fit for the Lions and his departure not affect his side? That was the gamble.
Two games is a small sample size but it appears to have paid off.
There are a number of factors in the success to date, including the addition of Johnny Sexton to the coaching staff.
Easterby’s lack of ego and ability to delegate meant that Sexton, who could easily have been an overbearing presence for a number of callow out-halves looking to establish their own identities, has fitted in perfectly.
Prendergast’s emergence at the latter end of the November window, clearly at Farrell’s behest, his backing at Leinster and start to this Six Nations has been a key part of the transition.
Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Tadhg Beirne and Dan Sheehan have all found their best form, too: big players coming up with big moments in a team without a six-Test Lions starter in Tadhg Furlong.
"He's got his hands full, for sure," Lowe told RTÉ Sport last week when asked about Farrell.
"And we've missed him but a lot of coaches have stepped up and it's been pretty seamless."
When Ireland laboured last autumn, they looked unsure of themselves and a fog enveloped the whole team. There were moments against England and briefly against Scotland that similar questions were being asked.
But they were able to breathe and re-focus, backing their own hard work and training. The doubts that crept in against the All Blacks, Pumas and Wallabies were gone.
Instead, they left it to the opposition to worry about them. Ireland were clearly more in the heads of England and Scotland than the other way around. Gary Keegan, performance coach, must share credit here.
It bodes well for the remainder of the campaign. Ireland top the standings with two bonus-points wins from two.
They face the poorest Wales side in memory before a block-busting showdown with France that will go a long way to deciding the outcome of the championship.
Ireland have a relatively clean bill of health, with Joe McCarthy set to add his bulk to proceedings soon and hopefully Furlong will shake off a persistent calf issue.
It’s not the world’s most famous November to January transition but it appears to have gone as smoothly as one could have hoped for.
