Of the many metrics that the Ireland coaching staff will be pleased with after Friday's 38-17 win against France in Marseille, 'Lineout success - 100%' is the one that stands out.
Before and during the World Cup, Ireland's lineout struggled for consistency. Most frustratingly, there were a variety of reasons for that wastefulness in what has traditionally been an area of strength.
Sometimes it was down to the throwing, sometimes it was bad timing between hooker and jumper, and other times they took the wrong option entirely.
Against France in Marseille, it looked as good as it had been for a long time. Their 100% success rate came off 13 throws, all 13 of which were won "clean" according to Opta stats.
As good as it was, we'll hold counsel before declaring it fixed. The rest of the Six Nations should provide us with a more conclusive sample size. But what it does show us is how many doors a high-functioning lineout can open for a team.
Ireland scored five tries in the Orange Velodrome on Friday night, and all five can trace their roots back to clean lineout ball, while Jack Crowley's penalty to get things started also came about after a secure lineout in the French 22.
Two of those tries were straight and direct, with Dan Sheehan and Rónan Kelleher getting the final two from the back of mauls close to the line, but the three other tries saw Ireland using the set-piece to launch attacks and score tries off phase-play.
The first of those scores - from Jamison Gibson-Park on 16 minutes - began around 35 metres out from the French line, with Ireland calling for a four-man lineout.
Having rotated between Tadhg Beirne and Peter O'Mahony for the first six lineouts, Ireland instead threw Joe McCarthy up in the middle this time around, and every element of it was executed perfectly: Sheehan's throw meets McCarthy right at the top of his flight, while Cian Healy and Peter O'Mahony were at full extension of their lift, including getting up onto the tip of their toes (all about the tiny margins). France didn't contest the throw, but there would have been no stealing that.
With the lineout ball secure, Ireland moved it through the hands of Caelan Doris and Crowley, the latter of whom delayed his pass to James Lowe for just long enough to hold the defence. And after the quick retention of that ruck, Robbie Henshaw fed Bundee Aki running a hard line, and his offload inside to Gibson-Park sent the scrum-half over.
The execution has improved, but there's been a noticeable change in strategy too.
Before and during the World Cup, Ireland's go-to option in the lineout was a five-man, or five plus one [receiver], particularly when they came under big pressure from South Africa. Against France on Friday, they only took that option twice.
Instead, they put more numbers into the lineout, with six of their 13 throws [45%] being to full lineouts, and another three being to six-man plus one.
With James Ryan on the bench and Iain Henderson not in the squad, Beirne was given the responsibility of calling the lineouts, and he took the challenge head-on, calling five of the first eight throws to himself and winning all five. O'Mahony was also used twice in the first 11 minutes, as they used their most experienced jumpers heavily early on.
Of the remaining five lineouts, two went to McCarthy, with one each to Jack Conan and Ryan Baird late in the game, while there was also one quick throw over the top to Aki during the first half.
It was a clever idea and was well executed, before a promising attack ended with Crowley slightly overcooked a kick which went out on the full.
With France playing a large chunk of the game with 14 players, they contested less and less for the ball as the game went on, but it was reassuring to see how Ireland coped with their more aggressive approach early on, as they won clean possession on each of the four lineouts France did contest.
The maul attack off lineouts was also particularly pleasing, after the consistent issues with obstruction penalties last season.
When they did maul the ball, the Irish lifters found the right balance between making the front bank of the maul watertight, while not getting too far ahead of the jumper.
Sheehan and Kelleher scored second half tries off dominant mauls, with Sheehan's in particular a clever piece of work as they peeled off down the blindside after France committed numbers to the openside.
More questions will be asked in the coming weeks, but the early signs are that there's been a lot of work done to the Irish lineout since the World Cup. So far, it's working.
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