Joe Schmidt has made a lot of changes to his Ireland set up since the 2015 World Cup quarter-final defeat to Argentina.

Nothing less than a World Cup semi-final appearance in Japan later this year will constitute a good World Cup for Ireland, said a straight-talking David Nucifora, as the IRFU performance director threw down the gauntlet to Joe Schmidt and his squad yesterday.

Joe Schmidt insists this evening’s match with Argentina has nothing to do with revenge, but he does not deny that the 2015 World Cup quarter-final defeat has informed the Ireland boss’s approach to this Guinness Series finale.

It is not clear whether tomorrow’s mission to atone for defeat in Scotland has included a detailed analysis of Rome’s traffic management systems but Ireland’s players have certainly left Joe Schmidt in no doubt they are ready to make amends.

Ireland 9 New Zealand 21: Perhaps feeling battered, bruised and not a little hard done by is a sign Ireland have finally arrived on the world stage as a force to be reckoned with.