Earls: We’ve turned a corner

Ireland utility back Keith Earls insists his side had the belief to beat New Zealand, and revealed the deep disappointment within the Irish camp following Saturday’s 38-18 defeat at the Aviva Stadium.

“We had belief that we could beat them (New Zealand). When we went in at half-time, we still believed even though we had just given a score away…we opened them up a couple of times…it’s disappointing to fall short,” said the Munster winger cum centre.

Earls, who came on as a 46th minute replacement for the injured Luke Fitzgerald, was denied a late try in the match after the Television Match Official deemed that he had an arm in touch.

“Tommy Bowe came off his wing and drew a couple of defenders,” Earls explained.

“He got the ball to me and I just went for the corner and I couldn’t get the ball off my body and my elbow, as far as I know, hit the line before the ball hit the ground.”

Despite losing by 20 points, Ireland’s performance was easily their best of the Autumn test series and Earls expects to kick on from their display against the number one ranked side in the world.

“We’ve been criticised the last couple of weeks for our performances, but we showed a lot of heart. In contact we maybe lost the ball once or twice - but we’re definitely on the right path,” Earls stated.

“The last two weeks haven’t been that great, but we’ve turned a corner now I think.”