France are in town, and the world No 5-ranked outfit are feeling confident.
Corinne Diacre was sacked in March after a drawn-out and messy revolt, the captain Wendie Renard and other key players walking away due to their deep unhappiness with the regime.
Enter Herve Renard, the suave 54-year-old who guided Saudi Arabia to victory over Argentina at the World Cup in Qatar last December. Renard previously led Zambia's men's team to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations title and repeated the trick with Ivory Coast three years later.
Renard, who oozes charisma and boasts a fine pedigree, got all the big names back on board and many will fancy France to go all the way at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
They also provide a useful gauge for Pauw. In April they beat Colombia 5-2 and Canada 2-1; Ireland face the former in a warm-up game in Brisbane tomorrow week and the latter in the group stages. On the same day Ireland take on the Colombians behind closed doors, France have a friendly with Australia.
"It's a really important game, especially for the weather - it will be the same weather we'll see in Australia!" Renard wisecracked yesterday as the rain pelted the windows of the media room at Tallaght Stadium.
"It's always difficult to play against this kind of team, with a fighting spirit. It's very good for us to have this kind of game... we know it will be difficult, but this is not the most important; the most important for us is to be ready for 23 July [when they face the Jamaicans in their opening game]."
The relaxed mood in the French camp was in stark contrast to Vera Pauw's earlier press conference, during which she fielded several questions over an article published in The Athletic on Monday that put the spotlight back on her time in charge of Houston Dash.
The piece chronicled Pauw's reign at the club, with four ex-players and three former members of staff all interviewed under the cover of anonymity. One player described her methods as "abusive and inappropriate"; another said she "created a culture of fear". Pauw continues to deny the allegations, asking rhetorically, "how can you defend yourself against a lie?"
That saga looks certain to rumble on for a while. In the meantime, there's a World Cup to prepare for.
Pauw confirmed she'll go strong tonight, with Sinead Farrelly, Katie McCabe and Denise O'Sullivan all coming into the fold having missed the 3-2 win against Zambia a fortnight ago.
Kyra Carusa should start up top, possibly supported by Marissa Sheva. Heather Payne will be stationed at right wing-back while Louise Quinn will likely be flanked by Niamh Fahey and Diane Caldwell in the back line. That leaves one spot in midfield, which could be occupied by any one of Ruesha Littlejohn, Lucy Quinn, Megan Connolly, Lily Agg or Ciara Grant.
"It's a result game, it’s about results." - Vera Pauw
"Of course it is a friendly game and a preparation game but we're going to start with what we think is at this moment the strongest line-up," Pauw said.
"There are players who will maybe not want to play 90 minutes and there are players that we maybe want to see and the game will tell us to change. It’s a results game, it’s about results."
McCabe is straining at the leash to get back on the pitch. The Tallaght woman came into camp a little later as she took a well-earned break following a long, hard club campaign with Arsenal. Pauw resisted the temptation to play her against Zambia but she will definitely get a good runout tonight in front of a sellout crowd.
"I mean, what an exciting game right?" said the skipper. "It's massive to have France coming to town. In front of our home fans; young girls and young boys coming to cheer us on to see one of the best teams in the world.
"I definitely think they’re going to be right up there in terms of World Cup favourites. The talent they have and the depth they have in their squad - and I think the flow they have right now, with Renard coming back in and taking over, is something really that's exciting for them.
"We've looked at a lot of footage and yeah, they've got a bit of everything. They’re physical, they’re quick, strong and quite good in small areas in terms of passing. So we’ll have to be on full alert to make sure we can stop them and try and get a positive result for our fans."
Ireland will fly to Brisbane on Saturday to get down to the serious business of finetuning for that historic group opener against Australia at the 83,500-capacity Accor Stadium. They will have one more match before then, a behind-closed-doors game against Colombia on 14 July.
But tonight is the big farewell, and though the Irish fans will no doubt give the team a good send-off, any sense of undiluted giddy excitement has been diminished.
"Of course, what do you do think?" Pauw replied when asked if the last few days had been draining.
"I’ve got a bunch of players, if you see the video, you will how close we are together and how much fun we have together and how loud everybody is and then you have things like [The Athletic article] and it influences that atmosphere.
"Of course it is draining. Of course, because it is such a nonsense.
"The only thing you can say about that is when the World Cup starts, how you enjoy it and how we can manage that as a group. How strong we are.
"That is something that is really important, that we keep that bolt and nothing comes in between us, because that bolt I’ve never felt before."
Watch Republic of Ireland v France on Thursday night from 7.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on an extended Game On with 2fm
