Thoughts of Triple Crown not on Paul O'Connell's mind as Six Nations resumes

Ireland have a pep in their step after the victory over England at Twickenham. Next up are Wales on Friday night in Dublin

Paul O'Connell: "Your emotion doesn't play as big a role as it used to with the team." Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Thoughts of a possible Triple Crown – or anything better again – are not framing Ireland’s second-half of the Six Nations as they brace for the visits of Wales and Scotland to Dublin.

The prospect of a Championship title appears beyond remote given the form of France so far. That Triple Crown would be no bad consolation prize given it would mean Andy Farrell’s side has won four of their five games and finished second after the opening loss in Paris.

And it is perfectly doable.

The Welsh pitch up at the Aviva Stadium this Friday on the back of a lamentable run of form and Scotland have lost 11 games on the bounce to Ireland, their last win in the series coming back in 2017 and before which they had lost four in a row.

For forwards coach Paul O’Connell, there is no temptation to focus on the potential prizes on offer later this month.

“No, just the next game. Particularly after a good result against England, you just want to focus on the next game and the next thing, and even the next training session really is what the lads were talking about.

“We just trained there and that was the main focus, so it was a big D-day [defense day] for us. It's only about getting better from the last performance, even though it was a good result. There's plenty of things we have to improve on and that's been the sole focus.

“We haven't discussed trophies or silverware or anything like that.

“We always come into a campaign trying to win it and we don't shy away from it. Andy has a meeting tomorrow, he might mention it, I don't know. Really, the focus for us as coaches and players has just been about getting set for the Welsh game.” 

Ireland approach this round four date with a bounce in their step after the 42-21 defeat of England at Twickenham two weekends ago. It was a performance that tore up perceived notions of an aging side in terminal decline.

O’Connell was in an Ireland coaching box that displayed an unusual level of emotion when celebrating scores and defensive sets, and it was put to him on Monday whether there was a danger of the team having reached an emotional peak in London.

“Your emotion doesn't play as big a role as it used to with the team. It's, I would say, the icing on the cake now, it's not the whole cake, and it can look different at times.

“Sometimes things go your way with referee calls or mistakes the opposition might make, and it looks like you've gotten the emotion right because the game is going your way.

“It's something that the players are generally very good at in terms of how they prepare to play for Ireland. We want them to be emotional, but we want them to be calm as well and they manage that really well.”