Declan Kidney maintains that while Ireland are far from being the finished article the win over Argentina means they can hit the ground running in next year’s RBS 6 Nations.
Ireland’s autumn campaign ended on a high with a comfortable 29-9 victory over Los Pumas at the Aviva Stadium thanks to tries from Stephen Ferris and Gordon D’Arcy.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing for the men in green as after running South Africa close they failed to impress in a 20-10 win against Samoa and were put to the sword by the All Blacks 38-18.
And Kidney admits he is looking for improvement from his side but is happy to head into the new year on a high.
“I’m delighted with the win [against Argentina],” he said. “It’s a good way to end the November series and puts us in good stead for the Six Nations.
“We were good and positive in the first half and when we had the ball we played well. “We made a few turnovers in the second half which made it easier for them.
“Argentina got hold of the ball in the second half and they did hang on to it. That’s something we’ll have to look at.
“There are loads of areas we’ll have to look at after the November games.
“It was the first ten minutes of the second half against New Zealand last week that caught us.
“Teams can maybe get in a sense of not coming out for the second half so we have to look at that.
“We’re far from the finished product.”
