Irish flanker Cian Prendergast has insisted the side's Six Nations ambitions have not been crushed by Thursday’s chastising loss in Paris and has promised a response from the team ahead of Saturday’s visit of Italy.
The 25-year-old picked up his ninth Irish cap and for the first time ever played alongside his brother Sam – but they couldn’t mark the milestone in the ideal manner as France swatted them aside 36-14.
However, even given the gulf on opening night, Prendergast was not waving the white flag on their campaign.
"It’s hard to know individually because at the time all you’re thinking about is the loss but the character the lads showed in the second half, to put ourselves in a position where maybe we could have come back but we’d ourselves given ourselves that huge task," he said of any inkling of a positive amidst the Parisian noise.
"But I know the character of this group. I know we will bounce back. The Six Nations isn’t lost. It’s never won or lost in the first round so we’ll show up to work on Sunday, we’ll be honest with each other in how we review it and we’ll be a better side off the back of that."
"As long as I’ve been watching there has never been any doubt about the character of an Irish team," he added.
"So I guarantee you we’ll show up now on Sunday to camp. We’ll review the game, we’ll be honest with each other and we’ll go to work and get ready to put on a performance next Saturday."
After the loss, Irish head coach Andy Farrell questioned the "fight" of those in green and admitted the hosts were on a different level.
"I don’t want to speak for anyone else but we definitely felt under pressure in the first half," Prendergast said of those comments.
"They were playing some brilliant rugby but at times we probably allowed them to play some brilliant rugby and that’s the disappointing thing."
Expanding on the French class, he added: "They are an excellent side. They have players, physicality, X-factor all over the field, and pace. Their wingers are brilliant and obviously 'yer man’ (Antoine Dupont) at nine is exceptional. He’ll punish you. Look, for me personally, I can only learn from this going forward."
Italy will perhaps smell blood given the meekness of the Irish display as they chase a first win in Dublin since 1997 – and a first against Ireland in the Six Nations since 2013.
'It's about how we show up to work now on Monday'
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Cian Prendergast reflects on a Six Nations debut that did not go as Ireland look to recover ahead of the visit of Italy pic.twitter.com/GZufHiBDFn
Only five points separated the sides in Rome last year with Italy playing almost 30 minutes a man down.
"No team in the Six Nations can be taken lightly," Prendergast said of Italy's threat.
"I’ve played Italy before, they’ve got brilliant players playing in the Top 14 and in the URC. They are physical, so it’s another challenge and we will just have to get ready for that."
That match may be another opportunity for the Prendergast brothers to team up – and hopefully in a winning effort this time.
"It's always special when we get to play together. We had family here at the game but ultimately we don't really like making it about ourselves during the week. We're just focused on putting on a performance for Ireland and we're just disappointed we didn't get to do it.
"(It was our first start) in any kind of game together. Maybe some underage Gaelic football, but I don't even think we've started together in those games. It was cool and something we'll definitely look back on in a few years, but at the moment it's probably just disappointing we didn't get the result."
Watch England v Wales on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player from 4pm on Saturday, with France v Ireland in the Under-20 Six Nations to follow from 7.50pm on the RTÉ News Channel and RTÉ Player.
