Seeking a response to a jarring defeat against the All Blacks seven days prior, Ireland’s victory against Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday served to answer some questions while presenting a few more.
Andy Farrell called it “three or four games in one” and, as such, there was good, bad and ugly in the host’s performance.
Having taken the lead in the second minute, Ireland were never behind but, after failure to score in the second half, ended the contest against 14 men clinging on to a slender 22-19 advantage.
The game had seemed in hand at half-time, yet come the final whistle the overriding emotion in Dublin was one of relief.
Without consecutive losses since the opening two fixtures of the 2021 Six Nations, Ireland’s response to setbacks has so often been emphatic.
Whether it be overcoming a first Test defeat to win the series in New Zealand in 2022, putting their World Cup 2023 heartache behind them with a stirring away win in France to start the most recent Six Nations, or looking decidedly outplayed in the first Test against South Africa this summer only to turn the tables seven days later – Farrell’s Ireland have proven masters at lifting themselves from the canvas.
But, beaten so decisively by the All Blacks last week when discipline was a massive issue and the attack misfired, rarely in recent times had it felt like there was so much to fix from one game to the next.
Prior to kick-off, Farrell said some of his players were “lucky” to get the opportunity to atone for their opening autumn performance. When asked after the nerve-shredding 82 minutes if he had got the desired response, he replied “in parts”.