This was the Irish turning their back on the age-old role of underdog

Fintan McCarthy, left, and Paul O'Donovan of Ireland celebrate with their gold medals 

Five years on from Rio and so much was different.

Paul O’Donovan has morphed from cleancut young man you’d be happy to pick up your daughter to hirsute dude whose gap year might have grown legs. His brother Gary, his partner when winning silver in 2016, is travelling reserve this time, his place in the men’s lightweight double sculls assumed by Fintan McCarthy.