Schmidt says there is cure for ‘malaise’ in the camp

Ireland’s search for form has taken them from Dublin to Edinburgh, on to Rome and through to Belfast where they spent the last three days trying to rediscover their mojo ahead of tomorrow week’s Six Nations meeting with France at the Aviva Stadium.

A win against the Scots, followed by a bonus-point success at the Stadio Olimpico, will lead future historians to suspect that Joe Schmidt’s side had little difficulty in putting that opening home loss to England behind them, but the Kiwi coach admits that the reality is more complicated.