IRELAND FINISHED WITH four more tries in a 35-25 win over Scotland, meaning they will at least enjoy their night in Dublin.
However, the hangovers tomorrow will be marked by the regret of missed opportunities against Wales and France early in this Six Nations campaign.
Professional sportspeople move on from disappointment quicker than anyone, eager for the next challenge, but Ireland will be frustrated to have allowed their standards to slip at the beginning of the championship.
Though they concluded by hammering Italy and overcoming the Scots, it is the draw against Wales and – most of all – the defeat in Paris that will rankle.
“It’s been good to finish with two good wins, two good results,” said captain Rory Best after the victory over the Scots. “For us, we expect to win every game, that’s the standard that’s been set over the last two and a half years.
“We’ll look back on the Six Nations as a whole and be disappointed, probably most disappointed with the France game. In that second half we very much feel we let that game slip, let it out of our control and didn’t keep attacking them.
But the way the team has went about its business since the England game, that mini-camp we had post that was some of the best training we had and we’ve actually increased how well we’ve trained.
“A lot of guys that have not got a lot of experience or no experience before this have now come in and probably over those first three games realised that to play Test rugby you can prepare a bit each week and turn out to play, but to win at Test level you’ve got to be really, really good.
“Unfortunately for us, sometimes it does take those first couple of weeks but we now have a good pool of players with experience who know what it takes to win at Test level after these two weeks.”
Head coach Joe Schmidt echoed Best’s sentiments in reviewing Ireland’s campaign overall, though he was also keen to stress his efforts to bring new faces into the playing group.
CJ Stander, Ultan Dillane, Josh van der Flier, Finlay Bealham and Stuart McCloskey all made their Ireland debuts in this championship and Schmidt is enthused by what he has seen of those men and others.
“There’s five new caps,” said Schmidt. “Those new caps coming in, a couple of them were making their Pro12 debuts at about this time last year, guys like Ultan Dillane and Josh van der Flier.
“They have very little professional rugby experience, let alone Test experience, so to try to work away with those guys has been incredibly invigorating because they’re so keen to learn.
“The same with a guy like Finlay Bealham and then at the same time, CJ Stander’s made his Test debut and he’s made an impact pretty much straight away. His carry today was incredibly combative in that first half.
“When you add all that up, along with Stu McCloskey, who is learning fast and trying to grow his game to try and give him more than just the carry game, but a game where he can make the deft offload but also make the pass of width.
“He’s learned a lot about what it’s like to defend at Test level when he’s marking up against Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson and Mike Brown, Jack Nowell, those sorts of guys. It was a hell of a challenge for him as well.
“Those new guys have all come in and made real progress, we feel, in the environment. Other guys who probably the time hasn’t been demanded of them, they’ve come off the bench and become starting players for us more often than not during this period. They’ve learned to cope with that as well.
“Hopefully that will be the positive that we take out of it.”
