A few dates in the 2023 calendar came to mind when the heartbeat returned to normal after such a pulsating encounter in Paris.
The next time Ireland are scheduled to play at the Stade de France is on Saturday, September 23, when they will take on reigning champions South Africa in the World Cup.
Then, if they manage to top Pool B, Ireland will return to the iconic venue in Saint Denis on October 14 to play a quarter-final. They will face the Pool A runners-up - either New Zealand or France.
However if Ireland finished runners-up in their pool, they will face the All Blacks or Les Bleus a day later.
So while Saturday's clash was a Grand Slam eliminator, it was also the acid test of how far Ireland have travelled under Andy Farrell - and equally how much farther they have to go - given how much improved France under Fabien Galthié.
How far they have come is evident from their third quarter comeback, when they summoned the will to recover from 22-7 down to get within a point of Les Bleus with eight minutes left.
Under severe pressure, many of the ingredients of Ireland's renaissance since last summer finally clicked into place - Paul O'Connell's line-out work for Josh van der Flier's try, then the attacking intent that presented Jamison Gibson-Park with the gap that he swivelled through for Ireland's third try five minutes later.
France, who had looked majestic in the first half, had become a shell of themselves.
And they might not have survived had James Ryan chosen to go for the corner with a 72nd minute penalty rather than instruct Joey Carbery to kick between the posts.
As for how far Ireland still have to go to be, for once, a real danger at the World Cup could be seen over the course of the opening 42 minutes.
A previous Stade de France fixture came to mind right after the break, when Melvyn Jaminet kicked his fifth penalty between the posts to deservedly increase France's lead to 15 points.
It was in February 2006 that Ireland endured a nightmarish first half and, by the 47th minute, were 43-3 in arrears.
With the game won, the hosts relaxed and, playing for pride, Eddie O'Sullivan's side managed to reduce the deficit to 12 points by the end.
In fairness, Saturday's game was never that far out of reach but, clearly, Ireland were clearly in trouble at the end of a first half in which they conceded eight penalties.
To put that in context, they didn't cough up a penalty until the 54th minute against Wales a week earlier.
But the threat posed at rucks by the physically imposing French forwards, working as part of an expertly devised defensive system by Shaun Edwards, was from a different world entirely from what the Welsh could muster.
You feared the worst when Ireland fell 10-0 behind in the Parisian bearpit with only six minutes on the clock, the hosts inspired by the early ingenuity of world player of the year Antoine Dupont and then his finish off Romain Ntamack's flamboyant off-load.
The visitors knew that an early onslaught was coming but failed to find the intensity to match the French. Had Johnny Sexton been on the pitch, might that have been different?
Perhaps so, but then it would be wrong to be critical of Joey Carbery, whose 27th cap was also his first Six Nations start as he stepped out of Sexton's formidable shadow.
Even if you were to disregard the fact that this was Carbery's first start since December 11 - and first since elbow surgery - it was still an assured display from the 26-year-old, one that he must be allowed to build on with a start against Italy on Sunday week.
A first cap for Mike Lowry and more Test exposure for the likes of Robert Baloucoune would be welcome, too, against the Azzurri.
Ireland responded to that early setback with Carbery's perfect kick-off for Mack Hansen's sensational try, but that was it for the highlights reel in the first half.
Farrell and his coaches - O'Connell included, as the line-out was a point of weakness here - must scour over the footage and pick apart where it all went wrong in that period against, admittedly, one of the top two teams in the world right now. For sure, the breakdown was a major source of concern.
If they can do that and repair the damage, Ireland will be much stronger for it by the time they return to the Stade de France.
