o sooner than the dust had settled on defeat to Wales - both a result and endgame which will have felt like the proverbial punch to the gut - did Andy Farrell have to turn his attention to the small matter of the most in-form team in Test rugby.
All things being equal, a resurgent France will think they should be heading to Dublin this weekend as Grand Slam champions or, at the very least, off the back of a first Championship since 2010.
That they aren't is due to an away-day loss in Murrayfield last March when they were widely tipped to come away with victory. Armed with the lessons of that bitter Edinburgh afternoon 11 months ago, Fabien Galthie's side are unlikely to be anything resembling model visitors this weekend.
Yet to win away from home or against a side currently in the top four of the world rankings, Farrell's hunt to earn a signature win in his disjointed tenure goes on. The Wales loss once again emphasised the importance of decision making and that starts long before the first blast of Luke Pearce's whistle at 3pm on Sunday.
Ireland will again name their team on Friday lunchtime, the reversal of Farrell's initial precedent of revealing his selection earlier in the week perhaps understandable in this era of twice-weekly tests for Covid-19.
Between now and deciding upon his 23, there are some big decisions to be made.
Given the obvious need for rugby to treat head injuries with the greatest degree of caution, neither Johnny Sexton nor James Ryan can be ruled in or out of this all-important, mood-shifting clash by anyone other than a highly-trained medical professional.
For the layman, there is little to be gained from speculating over two of the side's most important players and their passage through the return to play protocols in the wake of their injury-enforced substitutions in Cardiff.
Defence coach Simon Easterby said yesterday: "They were both obviously removed from the game and they are currently going through the return to play protocols.
"It's a six stage set protocols whereby each stage lasts about 24 hours and then if there are no symptoms resulting from the concussion, they can progress to the next stage.
"At the moment, they are going through that and there have been no setbacks so far.
"That's where we are at, at the minute. There will be more to say later in the week, but currently they are both going through the same stage of protocol to return to play by the weekend.
"As far as we are aware, that's exactly what we are planning (the pair passing through without setback).
"But obviously if a stage is failed, they have to drop back a day and that puts them under pressure.
"Our primary focus is their health and safety first and foremost.
"If a player, which may well be the case at some stage this week, feels like they can't complete the stage that they are in, then they obviously have to drop back a stage and that compromises their availability.
"We are aware of that and obviously we have plans in place to potentially have to deal with that if they come along.
"But, at the moment, that's what we are playing for, that they get through each stage each day and they get that one step further to making themselves available by the weekend."
Still, whether Sexton plays or not, there is a call to be made on who is the next man up at out-half. With no number 10 among yesterday's additions to the panel, Farrell is happy to continue with Ulster's Billy Burns and Leinster's Ross Byrne behind his skipper.
Burns' error in the dramatic finale last weekend is well documented now, with its timing serving to ensure that it has garnered far more attention than most which preceded it, including even Peter O'Mahony's early red card.
In the immediate aftermath of the loss in the Principality Stadium, both Farrell and Sexton said, essentially, that Burns would grow from the experience.
While the head coach has already said Byrne will play his part in this competition, for it to be now would be denying Burns the opportunity to do so.
Elsewhere, should Ryan be fit to play, Farrell must decide how his best player (Ryan), Saturday's best performer (Tadhg Beirne), and Saturday's most impactful replacement (Iain Henderson) fit best into only two starting spots.
If fit, Ryan is an automatic inclusion - deciding how best to distribute the remaining 80 minutes between Henderson and Beirne will be a balancing act.
When it comes to replacing O'Mahony, banned after becoming just the second Irish player to be shown a red card in the Five/Six Nations, Farrell's once abundant options in the back-row are now somewhat diminished.
Combined with Caelan Doris' spell on the sidelines, Ireland will be missing two-thirds of their presumed first-choice back-row in Dublin on Sunday.
Jack Conan's call up to the squad yesterday provides another contender for the No.8 jersey should Farrell opt to shift CJ Stander to the blindside in O'Mahony's absence.
Returned from long-standing injury, Conan's form at Leinster hasn't been quite as impressive as his provincial colleague Rhys Ruddock though. As well as having already been in camp, the latter would figure as a more like-for-like replacement, as well as being a previous captain among a group that could yet walk out minus the majority of their 'leadership group' if the news on Sexton or Ryan is negative.
Throw in whether to bring the fit-again pair of Tadhg Furlong and Jordan Larmour back or stick with their high-performing understudies and the close calls are numerous.
Crucial decisions loom as Ireland go in search of an elusive big result.
