Two weeks into the Guinness Six Nations, the jury is out on where both Ireland and England are ahead of their meeting tomorrow at Twickenham.
With a two-week gap between this game and their next championship outings, there will be plenty of time for deliberation.
It will be a long fortnight for Andy Farrell if his side fall to a second defeat of the championship on Saturday, something they haven't done since 2021.
The Grand Slam is already gone, the championship looks a long shot, leaving three games against England, Wales and Scotland to at least salvage a Triple Crown.
The 20-13 win against Italy on Saturday was unlike most previous home games against the Azzurri as Farrell’s side were left clinging on for their win until James Lowe’s interception when the clock was in the red.
While the view from the outside has been that the seven-point win was a further sign of Ireland’s sluggish form, the Irish coaches and players have been stressing the positives, emphasising Italy’s major improvements.
Saturday will give us an idea if they are right.
With their 2027 World Cup training camp set to get under way in less than 18 months, Ireland don’t necessarily need to be hitting top form just yet, but the curve does have to start turning upwards soon.
"It's hard to say," was Tadhg Furlong’s (below) assessment of where Ireland are at right now, citing the lengthy injury list in this championship, on top of the retirements of Cian Healy, Peter O’Mahony and Conor Murray.
"It changes the feel of the group a little bit I think.
"I feel a little bit older out there. But I have to say, as the weeks went on, some of the younger players, or maybe players who have been brought back into camp, they really come out with their shell socially, but I think more so from a rugby point of view.
"It's been great to see some of them push on a bit in training, but also get their chances in games.
"Where that leads us, the rest of the championship will tell that story. I kind of like where the group is going.
"I like where the road leads, if we can get there. I think there's a lot of promise in that."
The tighthead prop stressed that he and his team-mates were "pretty proud" at how they held on for a win against a buoyant Italian side last Saturday, but conceded his front row unit were disappointed at how they fared in the scrum.
Italy’s setpiece dominance was a large reason why they had a chance of drawing the game in the final minutes, winning four penalties and a free-kick off the Irish pack, whose scrum difficulties have been a talking point for much of the last season.
For Furlong in particular, it was a chastening experience, with the 33-year-old going airborne for the final Italian penalty, under the considerable pressure of Italian prop Mirco Spagnolo.
"We were negative-three in the penalty count [at the scrum], so it was four penalties to them, one to us, a free kick each. Obviously, it was a disappointing result," Furlong added.
"Italy do have a very good scrum, to be fair to them. We saw what they did to South Africa in November, I thought they put them under massive pressure. We know that's no mean feat!
"Obviously, we were disappointed. A lot of the fixes-up are the simple stuff, like height, entry, angles, etc. But they did a good job of isolating two-on-ones in the scrum."
The introduction of Tom O’Toole at loosehead prop settled Ireland’s scrum down in the final 15 minutes, as they locked up two crucial drives, and Furlong had plenty of praise for his team-mate's composure, particularly with the Ulsterman making just a third senior appearance on the left side of the scrum.
And it caused the veteran Ireland tighthead to recall his own experience playing out of position in a World Cup warm-up against England in 2015.
"I made my second cap for Ireland at loosehead, in Twickenham as well, actually. The first scrum was blown up for a reset because I bound on top of the tighthead, which is the wrong way around. But that was one of the most nervous weeks of my life.
"To be fair to Tom, he took to it…he was strong in the game when he came on, I thought. He's obviously a big man, he's obviously a tighthead, but it's impressive how he took to it just in one week."
The Wexford native missed Ireland’s opening defeat to France in Paris due to a calf injury, an issue which has plagued him in recent seasons, but after coming off the bench at half time against Italy, he returns to the starting side for Twickenham, with Finlay Bealham providing relief off the bench.
And the Leinster prop is looking forward to locking horns with his British and Irish Lions team-mate Ellis Genge, who was part of a dominant English scrum despite their defeat to Scotland last week.
"I tend to leave the chatting until after the game," he said when asked about Genge.
"I think he's playing really well. He’s not a fellah with a Lions hangover, I don't think.
"He’s scrummaging really well to be fair to him. And they're scrummaging very well. I think they put Scotland under the pump a bit the weekend. He's a strong man, he's aggressive.
"A lot of it [the preparation] is just trying to get yourself right. You can't get someone to replicate what England do, exactly.
"So it's a bit of 'on the fly’ and a bit of experience in the game. But a lot of the time you're trying to do what your plan is in training and try to get into the game."
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