Attacking edge the way forward for Andy Farrell's stuttering Ireland

There are undoubted bright spots to be found amid the opening defeats to Wales and France for Andy Farrell and Ireland 

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell 

Andy Farrell labelled France as a side on an upward curve after they edged Ireland in the Six Nations in Dublin last Sunday. Of more interest as the Six Nations tales pause this weekend is how he would describe his own group right now.

“A bit less upward,” he said yesterday at the IRFU’s high-performance centre in Abbotstown where 24 of his squad had assembled for a two-day mini-camp.