Fine margins costly for Ireland, says Jamie Heaslip

The Six Nations league table may not reflect his views, but Jamie Heaslip believes Ireland weren’t far off the pace in this year’s championship.

Joe Schmidt’s men came into the tournament looking to make history by becoming the first team to ever win three titles on the trot. But, lose to Scotland this weekend, and Ireland will finish second bottom, ahead of only Italy – far from the desired outcome.

Having suffered a humiliating group stage exit from last year’s World Cup, Eddie Jones’ England have a Grand Slam in their sights, but Heaslip doesn’t believe there’s a grand chasm between the pair.