95-cap veteran says 'mixed bag' against Wales was the 'true Ireland'

Ireland’s mixed performance in their 27-17 Guinness Six Nations victory over Wales was the “true Ireland”, according to former full-back Rob Kearney.

Andy Farrell’s side kept alive their slim hopes of reclaiming the championship title with a bonus-point success in Dublin, but were pushed harder than many expected by a Welsh team now staring at a 15th successive defeat in the competition.

Speaking on Virgin Media Sport the day after the match, Kearney suggested the scrappy nature of the contest was a more accurate reflection of where Ireland currently sit than the emphatic win over England in round three.

“It was probably a bit of a mixed performance,” said the 95-cap veteran. “It’s the perfect illustration that you’re never as bad as they say you are in Round 1, and you’re never as good as they say you are in Round 2.

“This is more of a performance that is the true Ireland, almost.

“There were definitely lots of positives. The bench was good, Doak coming on for his first cap was very good, bonus point win; all of those things. But we still expect a little bit more.

“Our game management, we didn’t play in the right areas of the field. We overplayed too much.

“We tried to go around [Wales] a little bit too early.”

“We didn’t show [Wales] enough respect as maybe we should have. We didn’t anticipate their defence would be as good as it was.”

Co-pundit Andrew Trimble was also critical of Ireland’s performance, saying: “I don’t think we coped with the uncertainty. I don’t think we coped with the line speed that well. Our phase play, there was a little bit of creativity early but we started going into our shell.

“We kicked unusually, kind of reasonably badly. Not as bad as we did in Paris.

“But even our decision to kick was unusual, a little bit erratic. We played a little too much rugby in our half. There was a lot going on in that game.”