Ireland will meet England head-on in Dublin on Sunday with their coach, Declan Kidney, dismissing all talk of a possible Irish Grand Slam.
“I don’t buy into that,” he said in the aftermath of his team’s winning start in Cardiff.
“That’s only a myth at this stage. Look at how well England have been going – and they’re firing away against Scotland just now.”
As the Irish reflected on a 30-22 win over Wales in the opening fixture of the seven week long Championship, Kidney was keeping the lid on things.
“It is just a good start to the competition, but that is al it is. It’s great to come to the home of the champions and get a win.
“Obviously we are delighted with the first-half performance, but we will have to take a good look at the second half.
“We had to defend with our lives in the second half, but that is when a group comes together.
“You can’t practice what they did out there. I would like to believe that it will give them a lot of confidence in how they play for one another. Guys did not care about themselves today.
“They just put themselves where they needed to be. The first half was pretty good. A few things went our way. Rory (Best) got a good block down, managed to gather the ball, three passes went to hand and suddenly we are in for a try.
Those small margins make a massive difference.”
Kidney had praise for Six Nations debutants Simon Zebo and Craig Gilroy, but reminded them that the competition for their places is fierce.
Kidney added: “The younger guys did nicely, but we thought they would. They had to (play well) because there is competition for places from Fergus (McFadden), Luke (Fitzgerald) and Andrew (Trimble). We are trying to build a squad and we are evolving nicely.”
Meanwhile, Ireland issued an updated injury list last night.
Captain Jamie Heaslip suffered a cut to his leg and Centre Gordon D’Arcy suffered a dead leg during the game and was replaced, but both will report to training this week.
Full back Rob Kearney reported stiffness in his back and underwent a precautionary scan, which reported no injury and he will be available for training. Keith Earls hurt his shoulder late in the game and underwent a scan upon the squad’s return to Dublin and will see a specialist later this week.
Peter O’Mahony took a bang to the head, but felt no ill effects after the game and will follow the graded return to play protocols this week.
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