Ireland Under-20s are two from two in this year’s Championship but such are the high standards in their camp that head coach Noel McNamara is far from satisfied.
On Friday night, his Irish charges ran in three tries to see off Scotland 24-5 at Netherdale.
And after their impressive bonus-point win over England in week one, McNamara’s side are sitting pretty at the top of the pile. But McNamara is demanding still more from his side.
“Scotland made it very, very difficult for us, so you have to give them credit for a pretty obstinate defensive performance,” he said.
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“On the balance of it we’re two from two – we’ve come away from this game with four points when a lot of Irish teams in the past have maybe struggled to get a result.
“So, I think we are happy enough but frustration is the word which keeps coming back to mind.
“Scotland slowed the game down a lot in the first half and we got frustrated and our discipline got the better of us. When we got the ball, we were just a little bit panicky with it, trying to push things that didn’t need to be pushed – trying to score in that one phase when we needed to build some pressure.”
All thoughts of a Grand Slam have been banished for now – Ireland have not achieved that ever at this age group.
For now the focus is on Round Three and the trip to Italy – according to McNamara.
“We’ve got a break now to assess this game, and the England game, before we head over to Italy (in two weeks’ time) for another tough game against a side which put in a very good performance here last week, coming out with a 32-22 win,” he added.
