Andy Farrell gave a pokerfaced reaction to what looks like a favourable 2027 Rugby World Cup pool draw, but the Ireland head coach will quietly be pleased with this morning's outcome.
With the expanded 24-team tournament meaning 16 teams will advance to the knockout stage in Australia in two years' time, his delight will more centre around Ireland’s place in the World Cup bracket, rather than their pool opponents.
For the third World Cup pool in a row Ireland will face Scotland, with Uruguay and Portugal their two other Pool D opponents.
Should Ireland top their pool, it would likely leave them on the opposite side of the draw to South Africa and New Zealand, while a runner-up spot will probably leave them taking on France in the Round of 16.
But Farrell insists he won’t get carried away plotting a path through the tournament.
"You can try and second-guess it and think all different permutations are going to work out in a certain way, but we know that a World Cup always throws up these type of things, that's why we love it so much," he said.
"I suppose you're always looking at which side of the draw you could come out, but if you don't look after your own side of things first and foremost then things could slightly happen a little bit differently.
"But having said that, everyone else in our pool is 100% going to be thinking in the same way."
It seemed inevitable that Ireland and Scotland would drawn together in Pool D, their third World Cup in a row meeting in the group, and their fixture is almost certain who tops the pool.
Ireland have won the last 11 meetings of the sides, who still have to play each other twice in the Six Nations between now and the World Cup in 2027.
"You could have put the bet on it being Scotland couldn't you, with the way that it's gone over the last couple of tournaments," said the 50-year-old, who took charge of Ireland after the 2019 World Cup.
"That's good, it's a great fixture obviously, they know each other well and will continue to do that over the coming years.
"It's amazing the rivalry that we've had over the years and who would have thought in the last couple of World Cups that we've met each other because we obviously meet each other in a pretty important competition, that's the Six Nations, every single year.
"The easy thing to say for us is what we say every single time that we play Scotland, is that the respect that we have for them as an unbelievably dangerous, quality world-class side has always been the case.
"And now having worked with a lot of their players in the summer, you get to see why you feel like that. So knowing a few more guys, there's insight there both ways.
"But over the course of two years, those things change massively as well.
"But for Uruguay and Portugal; we know a little bit about Portugal, we've played them once, trained against them actually a few times so we've followed their journey, Uruguay a little bit different and I know that Warren [Gatland] has done a bit of work there as well.
"But all in all, I was super excited actually, it got the old hairs on the skin standing up, definitely, so that's the way it should be."
While the World Cup draw has been made just under two years out from the tournament, Farrell (above) said he was pleased there had been a change from the previous World Cup, which saw the pool stage drawn just under three years out from the championship.
He said: "You guys [the media] included have all been involved in a number of these now, and you just know that three years was definitely too far away, in my opinion anyway.
"Two years does seem a little bit strange, but I do get it all for everything that can be organised or should be organised."
The tournament may seem like a long way away, but for Farrell it’s now firmly in sight.
"It's already started, believe me," said the former England centre.
"I've literally just come out of a two-hour meeting that we've just had straight after the draw, so these things have to be planned way in advance, especially when you're trying to navigate yourself to the other side of the world.
"As far as the playing side is concerned, obviously that's what we deal with, the high performance side of it.
"You just know through experience that so much can happen within those two years, with eligibility and all that, that comes into play.
"You might think that you know a certain side anyway, but by the time you meet them in the World Cup, they become a completely different entity.
"So that's always happened, and I suppose they'll be no different this time around."
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