That it resulted in a heavy loss of 41 points comes with its own baggage. Their war is evolving on many fronts; the tactical struggle, in this case waged against a far superior opposition in terms of capabilities and resources, and the strategic battle for relevance in an increasingly competitive sports market every week.

Thanks to the cursed pandemic, the Six Nations Women came across a new structure, which fits perfectly outside the window of the men’s tournament. Necessity being the mother of all invention and everything, it was a blank canvas to fill. The win over Wales was the perfect re-entry point for many sports fans less concerned with the societal issues of women in sport, rather than the next shiny thing to spend a Saturday afternoon on the couch watching .

Sport, despite its best efforts to impact us on a deeper level, still remains a fast-paced fashion industry. The cheaper and more available the product, the easier it will be for us to consume. Watching Beibhinn Parsons and Eimear Considine run – rather than cross – Welsh defenders was refreshing and was a reminder of how thrilling rugby can be when the focus is on skill and speed rather than power.

The problem with fast fashion, however, is just as fast as we board a moving train, we disembark once we no longer need it. Ireland were in competition with France for 15 minutes on Saturday. After that they looked as miserable as Wales the week before.

The slightest pre-reading before the match made us realize that there was a fairly large disparity in the “elite” status of the two teams; France is a team of semi-professionals, most of whom play in a semi-professional league. Ireland are a team of amateurs, many of whom haven’t had a rugby club for over a year.

As a team, they played one game in 13 months. No amount of training camps can mitigate that. Most have full-time jobs. Some have young families. Even taking into account the recent acquisitions of the team of seven (who have professional contracts, even if they only earn between 15 and 20,000 euros per year), the fact that Ireland had beaten France would have been an abnormal result.

Which is a shame. If they had at least run a competition it would have capitalized well on a week where the floor was theirs to present a game that appears in the consciousness of Irish sports fans every two years. Having a willing corporate sponsor in Guinness was a good first step. The same goes for the ever increasing visibility that the new and traditional media are ready to offer them.

Off the Ball, 2FM’s Game On, and the Second Captains podcast, among others, have all seized the opportunity to give female gaming a well-deserved platform, while avoiding the rowdy condescension that previously might have accompanied such a time of year. ‘antenna.

So to the newspapers, which should be keen to redress the glaring imbalance that exists between the inch column dedicated to men’s sport compared to women. This can be seen, not only in rugby, but in terms of the coverage received from Irish players like Cora Staunton and Orla O’Dwyer who have migrated to the semi-professional Australian Football League.

The exploits of Rachel Blackmore and Leona Maguire exist on a whole different plain. Their excellence made them unknowable, but that reinforces the point; women in sports have to be as good to earn the recognition they get.

The failure of the national women’s football team to qualify for next year’s Euros was a huge disappointment, especially since they had put themselves in a position to do so. To give in to the goodwill that these teams receive from a needy public is to lose its relevance. It’s cruel, but too true.

The women’s hockey team put the sport ‘on the map’ in the summer of 2018 with their unlikely run to a World Cup final. This should have ensured that short turns were part of our national sporting vocabulary. Three years later; we’re back to the VAR and petty quarrels on Twitter.

Speaking to Joe Molloy on Off the Ball last week, former Ireland international Niamh Briggs gave excellent context to any argument that the professionalization of the game of women’s rugby in Ireland could automatically narrow the gap between our women and those playing the game full-time in England, New Zealand and France, insisting that while professionalism is inevitable in the coming decade, the focus should be on solid foundations and structures at the lowest level, rather than rushing to pay players in a makeshift effort to reach parity.

This is the problem of tomorrow. Today remains that of relevance. Saturday’s loss was not just a loss on the pitch, but, because of its optics, a setback in the battle for the hearts and minds of viewers who need stimulation more than ever.

If last week was the playground for Irish Women’s Rugby, they may have pulled off the routine, but not the landing. Ubiquity is one thing, consistent quality is another. A combination of the two could guarantee a permanent place in our lounges. If they can’t see it, they can’t be.