The final table tells no lies, and by dint of being the only team to beat the champions and the reigning Grand Slam holders, Ireland assuredly deserve to finish second in the table.
Regrets, Ireland will have plenty. In the immediate aftermath of Saturday's win over England, Joe Schmidt was again lamenting that sluggish first half an hour against Scotland on the opening day, which ultimately came back to haunt them.
There was also the moment against Wales when Robbie Henshaw was penalised for joining the maul a fraction ahead of the ball-carrying Rory Best, and thus the "try" and ensuing conversion by Johnny Sexton to push Ireland a point in front inside the last 10 minutes never came to pass. And so, we will never know.
However, it’s worth noting that even if Ireland had completed a titanic comeback win under the roof and Friday night lights in the Principality Stadium, England’s bonus point win at home to Scotland the next day would have taken the title out of Ireland’s reach.
Even with Saturday’s win, Ireland would still have stayed second.
Reflecting on that opening day loss in Murrayfield, it’s also worth recalling how Ireland overcame their sluggish start and a 21-5 deficit to take the lead at 22-21, and then had three moments to press home their advantage further.
The force was with them and they weren’t accurate enough. Had Ireland capitalised on their ascendancy at that point, and scored a fourth try, they would now, most probably, be champions.
That was the one that got away.
‘Frustration’
“There is a degree of frustration, and a fair element of pride,” said Schmidt late on Saturday when reflecting on the last seven weeks. “But I think no matter what happened it was always going to be a very, very tight championship and if the championship had been on the line today, it would have been fantastic. At the same time, with the bonus point that England got last week, even if we won, we would have had to beat them with a bonus point.”
“So, it was always going to be difficult to get to that level. Those frustrations will continue in the overall review of the championship and, at the same time, it is incredibly positive to finish on a note like that because that was a monumental challenge tonight.”
Another lament from that Murrayfield game was that despite a high penalty count against Scotland, which was 9-2 at one point, and the concession of five ruck penalties in their own 22, it did not lead to Romain Poite brandishing a yellow card.
Similarly, despite a 10-4 penalty count against Wales in Cardiff, including the concession of five penalties inside their own 22, Sexton was the only player binned for a penalty against Ireland in their own 22.
Perhaps one of the advantages of playing at home, for referees are only human as well?
Home advantage is huge in the Six Nations, and throughout this season there were only four away wins, with three of them in Rome. The 11 home wins is a record in the Six Nation era, ie since 2000, eclipsing the five previous occasions when there were 10 wins.
Ultimately, Ireland did unto England what Wales did to Ireland, and so nearly did to England. Away wins are hard currency in the Six Nations. England remain the only side to have done so outside of Rome in the last two seasons.
But by denying England back-to-back Grand Slams and a record 19th test win in a row, in the process Ireland extended their unbeaten home record in the championship under Schmidt to four seasons, with nine wins and a draw. That’s something to cherish, and to be protected for as long as possible.
Absorbing
This absorbing Six Nations was a reminder as to how important it is to Irish rugby, way and above summer tours and November series, which are a means to the end, in the shape of the world’s oldest international tournament.
Many of the bedrocks of a competitive team remain intact, not least strong set-pieces, a potent maul and the accuracy of their breakdown work and ability to retain possession.
After the 15 years of total reliance on first John Hayes and then Mike Ross, there was ample evidence in the performances of Tadhg Furlong that he can be the tighthead to lock the Irish scrum and much more besides for many years to come.
Despite the emergence of two prototypes for modern-day locks, Iain Henderson and Ultan Dillane, in latter years, Donnacha Ryan has rolled back the years to play the best rugby of his life at 33 years of age. The backrow stock remains as plentiful as ever.
Overall though, there were clear signs that the team’s style of play is evolving, with more variety to their running game – be it moving the point of attack to second as well as first receivers, be it tip on passes or passes out the back of a decoy screen to go wide.
What last Saturday, and especially the performance of Jared Payne when hitting the line and linking with those outsides, perhaps demonstrated Ireland's need for an alternative playmaker alongside Sexton, who remains enormously influential.
So too does Conor Murray, albeit the manner of the win over England and the performances of Kieran Marmion and Luke McGrath proved that Ireland can cope without their talismanic scrumhalf.
“You are always trying to build,” said Schmidt. “Sometimes someone kicks the castle down and you have to start again. But you are always trying to build sometimes. The small investments you make, you hope for a big dividend.”
With his diminutive scrumhalf understudies in mind, Schmidt added: “There were a couple of small investments tonight, one weighing 82kg, one weighing 81.6kg, who did a fantastic job.”
