Walking the rest vs rust Six Nations tightrope 'tricky' for Simon Easterby

If Simon Easterby chooses to rest frontline players for the game against Wales, it would leave them without a match for 28 days between Murrayfield in round two and the Aviva Stadium in the penultimate game against France.

DOWNTIME: A reduced Ireland squad will reconvene at the IRFU's High Performance Centre this week for a short camp. Their next game is against Wales on February 22. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Simon Easterby could not have asked for a better start to his tenure as Ireland’s interim head coach but after two bonus-points wins to start the Guinness Six Nations, now comes the difficult balancing act of what to do next.

Ireland left Edinburgh on Monday with maximum points following a dominant 32-18 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield the previous day, with two of their stiffest challenges to retaining their title for a record third year in a row successfully met.