Midnight arrived before the Irish players.
It was still warm in Nantes on Saturday evening. The match finished shortly after 11pm and the head coaches and captains were required to fulfill their press duties before other players were shuttled through an area called the mixed zone.
It is an interview area between the locker room and the team bus, where a certain number of players are required to stop and talk.
On evenings that have ended in defeat, this can be a grim affair, with many heads kept down and eye contact avoided.
It was a more pleasant activity as Saturday gave way to Sunday.
Ireland defeated Tonga by eight tries to continue their blistering start to the Rugby World Cup, with Andy Farrell’s side having scored 20 tries in two matches so far
Andy Farrell once again made the decision to go with a full line-up rather than rest his main stars
Outside, several dozen Irish fans stood around the team bus waiting to greet their heroes.
Inside, those players’ focus was split between a second defeat in a week – 20 tries in two games is a dazzling achievement no matter who the opponents are – and the sizeable mass growing on the horizon.
Once Andy Farrell made the decision to once again field a strong squad for the Tonga match, expectations surrounding this match changed.
Rather than rotating his resources and trusting that an unknown lineup could achieve a bonus point victory, choosing which side he did set the demand for further improvement over Romania.
And it came. Two weeks later this was a great start to Ireland’s World Cup season.
“We knew we had to step up a gear this week,” says Robbie Henshaw. ‘It would be a tougher opposition, bigger men and tougher men.
“It was kind of a stop-start game, but great to get through it with the number of points we scored, and we’re happy with how we got through it.
“There were issues in the first half when we weren’t at our best, but we came together and fixed it throughout the game.”
Robbie Henshaw sat out the demolition of Romania with a hamstring problem, but returned to the bench against Tonga
Henshaw came on for Garry Ringrose after 50 minutes. His half-hour exposure came with the outcome already decided and attention already drawn to the Springboks in Paris.
However well he acquitted himself, Henshaw found himself in an area where selection looks were regulated.
Bundee Aki was the star on the field for the second game in a row. Beside him, Ringrose exerted a subtle but profound influence on defense and attack, as he usually does. Whatever opportunity Henshaw had to give Farrell a selection player was probably lost in the first week in Bordeaux. He was named to the bench for that, but withdrew the day before with discomfort in his hamstring.
“Hamstrings are not easy,” he says of the grumbling in that particular muscle.
“So I guess with what was at stake it was probably a smart decision (sitting out the game against Romania), even if as a player you never want to do that.
“You always want to be involved, but with what was at stake I decided not to take the risk and luckily it worked out this week.”
Ross Byrne got longer exposure considering the second half after record-breaking Johnny Sexton was sent off at the break.
By then he had broken the Irish points record, left the Irish fans in raptures, provoked boos from mischievous locals, and generally brought an order and urgency to the Irish game that only he can do.
Bundee Aki was again the best player on the pitch and was able to block Henshaw’s route into the first XV
Johnny Sexton overtook Ronan O’Gara’s all-time Irish points record in Saturday’s defeat
Byrne will be at the front of the line to take his place if Sexton retires at the end of the tournament. He was first in line to slap the captain on the back as Sexton crossed for his try, while Byrne was one of the Irish substitutes warming up at that end of the pitch.
“That’s the thing, he’s been doing it for so long,” said Byrne, who as his long-time understudy at Leinster, and more recently Ireland, understands Sexton’s durability in a way few others do.
“The longevity he has had is incredibly impressive. Very few, if anyone else, have done that. It is remarkable.’
As with Henshaw, Byrne was tasked with impressing from the bench in an area of fierce competition. Jack Crowley has, in many analyses, labeled Byrne as Sexton’s most effective alternative among replacements.
But Byrne kicked four of four conversions off the tee and was generally effective in a match that became scrappy as the replacements flowed in.
Ross Byrne was Sexton’s understudy for both Leinster and Ireland and is set to replace him when he retires at the end of the tournament.
South Africa lie in wait for Ireland – and the bigger challenge will be a real test of Ireland’s World Cup credentials
In week one he was left out of the matchday squad, in week two he was solid. Now it’s up to Farrell to decide on the fly-half cover for the Springboks.
It could be a very important decision, given that a tight match is expected and, as unpalatable as it may be to contemplate, the fact that South Africa will be ruthlessly chasing Sexton.
“Look, it’s a World Cup, that’s how it goes, I just had to do my best to prepare the team for Romania,” shrugged, a man used to answering questions about seizing his opportunity when it comes occurred. “We have a great team here and everything is geared towards the team being successful.”
No dissonant note has been sounded so far. However, the next performance requires a completely different tune.