Travelling in to Dublin city centre last Saturday made for an entertaining ride.

The sensation was strange at first. Unfamiliar.

Brian Moore was co-commentator for the BBC at the Stade de France last Saturday as Ireland and France pounded into each other for 80 of the most intense minutes of sport you could ever watch through your fingers and he was prompted to remark at one point on the copious quantities of claret oozing from the heads and faces of the players involved.

Joe Schmidt hadn’t a word of French when he pitched up in the Massif Central town of Clermont-Ferrand back in 2007, but the Kiwi coach was a quick learner and he’s still known for dropping the odd peu de Francais into his vocabulary on those weeks when the opposition is of a Gallic flavour.

We’ve all at one time or another listened to stories told by the older generations about how things were in their day.

How to replace the irreplaceable?

Sometimes, Monday morning dawns, and with it an almost fully-formed pitch for these Friday musings.

Joe Schmidt’s worst nightmare? It isn’t Billy Vunipola smashing through the Irish defence in Twickenham tomorrow. It isn’t even those seven “systems failures” against the All Blacks that allowed Ryan Crotty to break Irish hearts back in November.

Ah, Rio.

In the end, all that talk of rancour and revenge was just that.