Simon Easterby: Ireland can finish Autumn Series on high

Ireland aim to right the wrongs of their losing performance against the All Blacks when Australia roll into the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

The sense of frustration at the game that got away from them last weekend as New Zealand rebounded from their Chicago defeat with a 21-9 win has been shared by players and management alike in the Ireland camp with forwards coach Simon Easterby yesterday explaining there was a determination to improve on their effort against the world champions.

The fear would be that Ireland’s month-long international window will shut on Saturday at the conclusion of their final Autumn Series Test with the same feeling of disappointment that accompanied Joe Schmidt’s squad home from South Africa last June.