Head coach Joe Schmidt has moved to reassure fans 2016 should be viewed as a transitional year for Ireland rather than a sign of things to come.
Ireland’s chances of winning a third successive RBS 6 Nations crown were ended on Saturday night with a 21-10 reverse to England leaving them winless this year and unable to catch the Red Rose at the top of the table.
It comes in stark contrast to their recent record under Schmidt, whose team has been dogged by injuries. But the 50-year-old is keen to keep things in perspective.
“While we’ve got guys who are coming in and doing a good job, there’s a little bit of a transition period,” he said Schmidt.
“We’re building past that hopefully, but don’t lose faith that we won’t keep building and hopefully that will be sufficient to keep people enthusiastic about what we do in the next two games.
“I’m positive by nature, I think we tried to play positively with the enterprise we showed and we’ll keep trying to do that.
“I am excited about the young guys who are coming in. I’m sure they can well step up to this level, and that’s got to be positive going forwards.”
Ireland complete the tournament in front of their own fans, with Italy, then Scotland in the final round, set to visit the Aviva Stadium.
And Schmidt feels he has seen enough from the opening three rounds to suggest Ireland can impress.
“It’s really tough at the moment for players who take so much pride to not quite get the result. But I honestly don’t feel we’re a million miles away,” he added.
“We need to get a result and we need to build toward that over the next two weeks.”
Click here for the complete 2016 RBS 6 Nations fixture list with TV coverage