Confident O’Leary expects more polished display against France

TOMÁS O’LEARY is pretty sure Ireland’s back division can mend their error-strewn ways and be at their clinical best for the visit of Six Nations champions France on Sunday.

Ireland struggled against Italy in their championship opener on Saturday, a performance marked by several handling errors that left Declan Kidney’s side needing a late Ronan O’Gara drop goal to secure a 13-11 win at Stadio Flaminio. Scrum-half O’Leary believes those problems can easily be put right and will need to be with counter-attacking experts France coming to the Aviva.

O’Leary said: “The French are renowned for their flair and their attacking play and they’ll be a different proposition than the Italians. It’s a challenge that we’re looking forward to. We created the opportunities and we did get into good shape where we had the opportunities, especially out wide, but we just weren’t clinical enough.