On Friday, Caelan Doris explained that Ireland consider a comprehensive win over Japan in 2021 as the game that set them on an "upward trajectory".
Looking back, it's not hard to see why. That 60-5 win four years ago was immediately followed by a 29-20 victory over the All Blacks, a performance that remains one of Ireland's best under Andy Farrell.
That autumn campaign teed Ireland up for their best period under Farrell: a Test series win in New Zealand and a Six Nations Grand Slam before the bubble burst at the World Cup.
Four years ago, there was irrefutable evidence that Ireland were trending in the right direction.
At the midpoint of this World Cup cycle, however, the picture wasn't quite as clear as Japan returned to Dublin.
After last week's deflating loss to New Zealand, phrases such as "reset" and "brutally honest" began to make their way out of the Irish camp.
With that, they needed a free-flowing performance against Eddie Jones' side in their first home game since a miserable Six Nations defeat by France to launch the latest stage of their journey under Farrell.
But this was not it.
While Ireland's superiority ultimately told in a 41-10 win, a laboured and patchy display in the first half was clearly not Farrell was after.
"In short, no," was Farrell's straight-to-the-point answer when asked if he saw a strong response to last week's defeat from his players.