Saturday's Guinness Six Nations win against England was another step along the road for Andy Farrell's Ireland.
Aside from the obvious five match points, it was a new experience for many.
For Hugo Keenan, James Lowe, Jamison Gibson Park, Dan Sheehan and Caelan Doris, it was a first big Test match win on the road played to the tune of a raucous crowd cheering on the opposition.
Had Ireland's 2022 Six Nations campaign come and gone without a win either in Paris or Twickenham, it would have been a real setback in their development towards the World Cup next year.
It was Keenan's 19th cap, but just his second time dealing with a full stadium that wasn't cheering his every move.
The Leinster full-back had some rare missteps in that defeat against France four weeks ago, but yesterday was arguably his best yet in a green shirt, scoring Ireland's second try and commanding the skies with whatever the English backfield kicked his way.
Having played so much of his professional rugby behind closed doors and within Covid-19 restrictions, he and his team-mates got to savour a rare Twickenham win in front of the stands, along with the many friends and family who had made the trip over.
"To have the likes of my parents over, one of my brothers was over, and to see so many familiar faces in the crowd, these are the days you want to be involved in," he said, following the 32-15 win.
"Although it was frustrating out there, it makes all the hard work worth it.
"It was a long time waiting for days like today, there were ups and downs along the way but hopefully the family and every other Ireland fans, there was loads of them over, enjoyed it."
The 25-year-old was roundly praised for his workrate after scoring what was his sixth international try, sprinting from one side of the pitch to the other to create an overlap after Ireland won a penalty under the posts.
But the most impressive aspect of his game was how he dealt with the bombardment of high kicks into the Irish 22, consistently catching the Garryowens of Marcus Smith and Freddie Steward, relieving Ireland of a lot of pressure when they most needed it.
"It's just 100% on that job, just jumping through the ball, not worrying about anything else," he added.
"You might get a call from Lowey or Bomber (Andrew Conway) if you've got a bit of time or not, but other than that, it's all focusing on that ball and catching it. You block out everything else.
"It was tough back there. When you've Freddie Steward and Sam Simmonds - two great kick-chasers, Freddie is brilliant in the air and it's as tough as it can get out there.
"Some went my way, a few didn't.
"It's always about focusing on the next one, if I lose one in the ruck or get stripped and knock on it's just about what you're going to do next, there's no real point dwelling on it because they kept coming my way didn't they?"
While Ireland will need to beat Scotland next Saturday and hope France slip up against England in order to win the championship, a win of any kind against Gregor Townsend's side would see Ireland claim the Triple Crown, something they haven't done since 2018.
And while Triple Crown's haven't held the same weight among the Irish public as they did in the past, Keenan is adamant that getting their hands on any kind of silverware is a valuable next step for this Irish team.
"It would be so special.
"What is it, two Triple Crowns in the last 13 years? To do it in front of a home crowd, I can't remember the last time the lads have lifted silverware in the Aviva so yeah it'll be incredible.
"These are the days you want to be involved in and all focus is going to be on that Scotland game and learning our lessons from the England match. Yeah, putting our best foot forward to win that game and give the crowd something to cheer about and give our families something to be proud of.
"We were delighted to come over and get the win. It's such a tough place to go and to get the four tries and to put ourselves in a position to win a bit of silverware next week.
"That's what it's all about really and we've the good opportunity to win a Triple Crown in front of our home fans and it excites me and it's exciting for the whole squad, and you never know off the back of that what might happen."
