As much as the Irish tried to downplay their impressive 15-6 win over Australia on Saturday night, the enormity of the win was difficult to escape.
Ireland's players celebrated wildly at the final whistle and later, as Irish fans danced in the stands long after Wallaby ones had slunk away, emerged from the dressing room to acknowledge them once again. It was emotional stuff for many, especially as it was Ireland's first win over a Tri Nations side at a World Cup, but also exciting because of what potentially lies ahead.
"We are pretty pleased with it," Ireland coach Declan Kidney deadpanned afterwards. "I suppose when you have played a team five times in a competition, it's nice to finally get one over them. It will be meaningless unless we win our next two matches because we are a long way from qualifying from our group yet."
They should do that comfortably, with games against Italy and Russia remaining, and topping their pool would have huge ramifications for the World Cup. It will likely pit the Tri Nations sides on one side of the draw and Six Nations on the other.
Australia now look destined to finish second in their pool, setting them up for a hugely significant quarter-final clash with South Africa. The winner is then likely to meet the All Blacks in one semifinal as Six Nations sides England, France and Ireland battle it out on the other side of the draw.
"It's probably good for [the World Cup], isn't it?" Kidney inquired. "You guys play a lot against one another so I will let you guys sort out one half and the Six Nations sort out the other. It's only a World Cup if a Southern Hemisphere team plays a Northern Hemisphere team in the final."
Ireland might fancy their chances of getting there if they can play with the same sort of passion, intensity and commitment they did against Australia. They were hungry at the breakdown, defended superbly and decimated a Wallably scrum that had made huge strides in recent times.
But more than that, they played intelligent football. They did a fair bit of kicking but also played a lot with the ball in hand and recycled possession to put Australia under pressure. They were more ambitious than most might have expected, at one stage running the ball out from their own goal line, but accurate.
The same couldn't be said about Australia, and Quade Cooper's ability to run a side under pressure was once again horribly exposed. He is a fabulous player when his team is going in the right direction but too often took the risky or wrong option when a sensible play was needed. This is the World Cup, after all, not Super Rugby.
"It doesn't change anything," Australia coach Robbie Deans said. "The tournament remains the same. What we got was an insight into what the World Cup is all about. At no point did we presume we would be successful.
"What the Irish brought to the table is exactly what is required to succeed in tournaments like this. That's what we have to add to our game."
It's also the challenge for Ireland. They have set the standard now and need to maintain it. Anything less in the coming weeks won't be good enough.
"We felt as though we owed ourselves that performance and we felt it was in us," Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll said. "It was great we were able to deliver it for us and all Irish people.
"It's a good win but I'm not sitting here with the Webb Ellis [trophy] beside me.
"It's great because we have done something we haven't done before but let's not oversell it, too. It's a means to an end. We have to accept it at that and enjoy the moment but not get lost in the moment." APNZ