Mallett: More to come from Irish

ITALIAN coach Nick Mallett has warned Ireland’s opponents to brace themselves for a more vigorous challenge in the weeks ahead.

The South African firmly believes the best is yet to come from Ireland despite showing little of the form that propelled them to Grand Slam glory last year and victory over world champions South Africa in the autumn.

“What I would say about Ireland is that they are a very good side, very pragmatic, they have a fantastic set of backs but only use them if they get good front-foot ball; otherwise they tend to concentrate on other areas, so I don’t think we saw the full range of their game on Saturday,” he said.