As the tries rained down at Dexcom Stadium last week, Dannah O'Brien was being given a real workout by her team-mates.
From one corner to the other, Ireland were running in scores, and while there were a couple in close to the posts, the vast majority were coming out in the wide channels.
While the blue skies painted a picture of a beautiful day in the west, there was still the usual Sportsground wind to deal with. With that in mind, O’Brien’s six out of nine conversions was a good return at the notoriously difficult stadium for kickers.
As it is for every kicker, the battle for consistency never goes away, and the 22-year-old has been through the good days and the bad.
Against France in last year’s Six Nations, O’Brien was left frustrated as she watched all three of her conversion attempts miss in the 27-15 defeat. A week later, they were going over from every angle as she converted seven of Ireland’s eight tries in a 54-12 win.
"It can be hard," she says of the mental preparation for kicking.
"When you're in games like that, you just have to focus on the next kick. If you miss one, there's no reason why you can't kick the second one. It's just trying to stay on track. You can have bad days and conditions can be difficult.
"The training never changes. If I kick all my kicks one week, or if I missed them all, I'll still kick the same amount of balls and just try to be consistent with it. You can't really force things like that either.
"What I find myself when I miss, it's kind of because I'm focusing on little tweaks too much, so you’re trying to keep the free spirit and try to just have the mindset of being like, you're out on the pitch, you’re out on the park, just kicking it over.
"When I feel loose and confident, that's usually when I'm swinging through at the best."
Experience counts for a lot, and O’Brien is racking that up.
Almost four years on from making her debut as an 18-year-old on the summer tour of Japan, the Carlow native is now an established Test player, earning her 32nd cap against France tonight.
And while she knows she is nowhere near reaching her potential just yet, she believes she has become comfortable in her skin at this level.
"I still feel like I've a lot of growing space. I'm still only 22 but I definitely do feel like I've grown into the position," she adds.
"And, thankfully, I've had good consistency and opportunities to grow in this squad. I feel like it's still only the start, but there's definitely a lot more to go.
"I came from playing a handful of games at senior level for Tullow, a junior rugby team. It was difficult at the time but I think where the team is now, it's has grown so much.
"Not just me. I've grown with players like Aoife Dalton. We got our first cap together. So the team has built that experience as well."
O’Brien, and several of this Irish squad, have been through a lot in their first few years as international rugby players.
A Six Nations wooden spoon in 2023 saw women’s rugby in Ireland in a dark place but they have risen rapidly in the three years since, with sights now set on breaking into the top two of the championship, and the top four in the world.
And while there have been tough lessons along the way, O’Brien knows she has benefitted from having to learn her trade on the job.
"We've come such a huge way. And just grateful that we've been able to kind of start from rock bottom and then build up from there.
"After the wooden spoon Six Nations and then starting again in Dubai, it did give us the opportunity to just be good at the basics and build from there. We've kind of been lucky in a way that we've had time to build experience and build knowledge."
Two years ago, O’Brien was part of an Irish side taking their first steps along their rebuild in the Six Nations, and impressed off the bench in the 38-17 defeat to France that year, converting both Irish tries on a day where Scott Bemand’s side showed some flashes of the potential we’re seeing today.
Now, in 2026, the target is much different, having made no secret of the fact that they have travelled to Clermont-Ferrand looking to win.
"Over the last few years, we have come closer to getting the edge over France and hopefully we can do that this weekend.
"But we just want to focus on building on our performance from last week and trying to raise the standard again," the out-half adds.
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