Two years on, and another sense of deflation for Ireland at Twickenham, although it's a very different kind of deflation.
In 2024, the 88-10 defeat against the Red Roses meant it wasn't difficult to diagnose the problems, and while yesterday's 33-17 loss in the opening round of the Guinness Women’s Six Nations was nothing like the 'Murder on the ‘Dancefloor’ - as it has come to be known, there is a sense that Ireland missed a real opportunity to land a few more blows on their hosts.
An Irish win was never really on the cards, and a 21-point defeat is better than most teams will fare against England over the next six weeks, but by the standards previously set by the world champions, this performance was an unremarkable 6.5 out of 10.
In front of a record six Nations crowd of 77,120, at times the hosts played like a group feeling the weight of expectation, rather than a team freed from the shackles after their World Cup win.
While Ellie Kildunne eventually crossed for a try to kill the game off, the superstar full-back had an unusual off-day by her regular standards.
Ireland went after her early on, Eve Higgins crunching her in a tackle right as she kicked the ball out on the full, while her careless knock-on just before half time summed up what had been a scrappy first 40 minutes from both sides.
"I think there was always going to be nerves going into a big campaign off the back of an amazing World Cup," England captain Meg Jones said.
"We wanted to play in front of big crowds and that is what we have today. We found our way and that is what a winning team does. I am sure we will brush up but I am really proud of the girls."
Ultimately, while they looked clunky and rusty in attack, their power and belligerence up front ensured they could always keep Ireland at arm’s length.
Each of their three first half tries followed a frustratingly similar pattern from an Irish perspective, with penalties giving them access to the 22, before their tight-five forwards took over; hooker Amy Cokayne mauled over for the opening try, before tighthead Sarah Bern fell over the line for two more, from a combined distance of around one metre.
It was the polar opposite of last year’s contest in Cork, where Ireland held England scoreless for more than 30 minutes before the floodgates opened in the second half.
"We just didn't front up physically enough," captain Erin King said of the first half.
Ireland head coach Scott Bemand took encouragement from his team's second-half performance in defeat to England at Twickenham #RTERugby pic.twitter.com/wZVND19Jl3
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) April 11, 2026
"I guess they were hungrier at the breakdown in that first half.
"We spoke about a fast start and we just probably didn't have that start that we wanted. But I'm unbelievably proud of the girls of how we reacted to that.
"I'm probably similar to Scott, I'm quite competitive. So I'm a little bit disappointed that we didn't get the win."
The fact that the scoreline never got out of hands is an obvious sign of progress, and head coach Scott Bemand was quick to highlight how they shared the second 40 minutes 12-12.
He, his coaching team, and the players have made it clear that three home wins is the minimum required of this championship, while there is confidence they can go to Clermont and finally get past a French side that narrowly beat them in the World Cup quarter-final.
But if that is to happen, he will need to see far more clarity and ambition from his attack.
While there were early attacking sparks with breaks from Stacey Flood and Brittany Hogan, Ireland never really threatened the English defence until they were 28-0 behind and the game was over.
Their lineout and maul provided the foundation for both of their tries, but it remains an unreliable source of possession, with losing three of their own throws, one of which was a clean steal by Maddie Feunati in her own 22, ending Ireland’s best attacking opportunity in the opening half.
They struggled to get Aoife Wafer onto the ball with just three carries, while their backline was sloppy in possession, accounting for 12 turnovers conceded.
Next week’s opponents, Italy, frustrated France for large parts of their opening game in Grenoble before conceding five second half tries to lose 40-7.
And the Ireland head coach says his team are keen to turn the page and get their campaign up and running next week in Galway.
"I don't think this is a group now that is interested in just turning up for big occasions," Bemand said.
"We know next week is going to be a tough game. The Italians are tough. They're well coached. We had a really good away result to them last year.
"And it's really important to build your momentum. First thing, you'd be hard to beat and win your home games. So part of it, growing our group and growing our wave is getting people on board.
"We want more and more occasions like we've experienced today."
