Two weeks is a long time in the Six Nations.
A fortnight ago, Irish rugby was getting it from all angles; a lack of intent on the pitch, a shortage of depth coming through the provinces, no scrum culture, an ageing senior core.
At the same time, all was rosy in the English rugby garden. Twelve wins in a row, the latest a thumping of Wales. All aboard the Eurostar for a Grand Slam decider in Paris.
Heading into the fallow week of this championship, everything has changed.
Ireland's 42-21 thrashing of England at Twickenham was their best performance of the last two years, sending them into the final two games chasing a Triple Crown and a second-place finish, while they’re ready and waiting to pounce on an unlikely French slip-up for the title.
England, meanwhile, are scrambling for answers after two comprehensive defeats, with a trip to Rome coming on Saturday week fraught with danger.
"It's fickle how quickly things can change," Ireland’s Garry Ringrose (below) said, after Saturday’s record win away to England.
"It's the beauty of the Six Nations, even talking to England lads, that's how quick things can shift in two weeks.
"We were in a tough spot after losing to France. They were in a great spot after continuing their winning ways against Wales, and in two weeks the different things shift. That's the challenge, to probably front up and try and put in performance."
While Farrell and his players made no attempt to sugarcoat the heavy defeat in Paris in the opening round, they had been quick to stress the positives of their 20-13 win against Italy in Dublin, in contrast to a largely negative reaction in the outside world.
Back in 2024, 20-time men’s tennis Grand Slam winner Roger Federer delivered a famous line that despite winning almost 80% of matches during his career which spanned more than 1,500 contests, he only won roughly 54% of the points in those games.
That statement comes to mind when rewatching how Ireland broke England on Saturday.
With 18 minutes played they were 3-0 ahead and had just put in a 17-phase defensive shift in their own 22, before galloping the length of the pitch to score a devastating try.
Shortly before England crossed for their own opening try just before half time, the stats show both sides had been in each other’s 22 five times each. Ireland scored three tries and a penalty from their entries, while England scored nothing.
"In the Six nations these big games fall on fine margins," Ringrose added.
"You're always trying to perform as best you can and hope you can get the ball on the right side of those margins and we did a couple of times there today which was good.
"We put a lot of work in during the week, preparation wise, to commit to deliver a performance we're proud of and I think we did that today.
"As I said, the fine margins, when one or two things click then you get a bit of momentum and it makes it easier for other parts of the game, and I think that kind of rolled on today.
"Definitely performance wise, points wise, the score, some of the defensive sets - obviously we leaked a little bit [at the end] - but some of the defensive sets we can be proud of.
"It's to get out of your own way and not suppress yourself, that's always the challenge. The same can be said after France, when there's negative noise outside, it's the same message.
"Think of the people close to you, what do they want to see? Don't suppress yourself and keep attacking the next moment."
While collectively Ireland were exceptional, there were some notable standout performers, with scrum-half Jamison Gibson Park, and Ringrose’s centre partner Stuart McCloskey delivering arguably their best ever days in green.
"He [Gibson-Park] was brilliant, a joy for all of us to play with.
"The half-backs work closely together and they're always meeting and discussing, and whoever the two that go out they are trying to perform at a level that we're all proud of.
"Similar to Stu leading from the front, Jamison is leading from the front as well. So it's great to see him go well.
"I feel lucky to play alongside him [McCloskey, above]. He's going particularly well, and on Saturday he was brilliant.
"We're all buying into the collective, and he's properly delivering on bringing his uniqueness and individual strengths, which has been evident the last few games," the Ireland centre added.
While 11 of the Ireland squad return to their provinces for gametime in the URC this week, Ringrose and the rest of the group will enjoy a few days off before a mini-camp on Thursday and Friday ahead of their weekend rest, before attention turns to their final two games against Wales and Scotland.
Wins in those two games will see Ireland win a Triple Crown for the fourth time in five seasons.
And Ringrose insists it’s on the players to make sure Saturday’s emphatic win is not a once-off.
"That's where the performance comes from. It's our preparation, so that'll be the focus now for the next two weeks.
"The challenge for us now is to enjoy this evening, acknowledge things this evening, but then - the cliche - tomorrow it's back in the saddle, challenging our preparation, challenging ourselves in training and getting right back to the level we expected ourselves to deliver against Wales."
