Andy Farrell insists Ireland are 'in a good place'

Ireland’s defeat of Scotland didn’t convince everyone that the toxins from the defeat to England in Dublin had been fully flushed from the system, but Andy Farrell believes the side deserves more credit for the manner in which they bounced back in Murrayfield.

It’s not that it was the perfect performance.

Ireland spent considerable periods of time under the cosh against Gregor Townsend’s men, and once again lacked the sense of conviction and accuracy that had taken them to such heights in 2018, but Farrell feels the context of the occasion can’t be brushed aside.

“It was a big week the Scottish week. There was disappointment in many different areas. It was a big game, we wanted to get back on the horse and get a ‘W’ on the board. But a good performance individually and collectively came after.

“On top of that, there are not many teams who come to Murrayfield these days and get a win. We have been picking the performance apart in the last couple of days but if you get back to before kick off, you are thinking, ‘what is going to be a good outcome?’

“A win would be a good outcome.

Everyone has been talking about Scotland making too many errors in the second-half, etc. I thought we got them to a point, probably on 50/55 minutes where they had to start chasing the game a little, where we subconsciously grabbed hold of the game and forced them to play a little differently.

“When you put that into context, I thought it was a super win.”

There was no attempt to paint the England loss in a more favourable light. Farrell described Eddie Jones’ side as “outstanding on the day” and added that three or four errors from Ireland contributed to their downfall.

Such is top-level rugby, he said.

The net effect of that defeat, and England’s demolition job on France last weekend, means another Six Nations title looks highly unlikely for Ireland as they contemplate the trip to Italy next weekend, but Farrell is adamant that silverware is not beyond their grasp just yet.

“We’re in a good place. We are. Because the players care about getting better, they care massively. We’ve got three more games in this competition to keep on improving and we’ll see where we go after that.”

Farrell also insisted that Jonathan Sexton will be fit to face the Italians in eight days’ time. The out-half took a full part in yesterday’s open session having suffered a head injury and being replaced during the first-half in Murrayfield last week.

“(Sexton) is fine, yeah, he trained fully,” said Farrell, “he’ll be ready to go.”

Robbie Henshaw did not take part in the run-out at the Aviva Stadium which included the Ireland U20s and seniors squads but the Leinster back should be fit to train next week. Garry Ringrose will be assessed at the same time, but is less likely to feature against the Azzurri.