Ireland head coach Andy Farrell insists his side remain capable of lifting this year’s Guinness Six Nations despite Sunday’s defeat against England.
Farrell’s side paid for a slow start at Twickenham, falling 17-0 behind in a one-sided opening 40 minutes.
Though Ireland improved after the interval, the 24-12 reverse dashed their Triple Crown and Grand Slam hopes as well as leaving them four points behind Championship leaders France with two matches to play.
A defiant Farrell is refusing to give up hope of finishing top of the pile, however, and believes his side are “100 per cent” in the hunt.
“We will take the learnings and the hurt as well,” Farrell said.
“We will take the disappointment and again we need to make sure we get it to the last weekend.
“We are in it, you know, we are in a competition. We are in the same position as a few other teams and we need to be disappointed with this.”
Farrell also took heart from a second half display which saw Ireland outscore their hosts and avoid what could have been a more chastening scoreline, with a 57-15 defeat in a World Cup warm-up match at Twickenham last August still fresh in the memory.
“There are plenty of teams who would have been here – us included in the past – that when an [England] side have been brimming at half-time, they probably would have felt they could get to a cricket score,” he said.
“You know, we can give ourselves credit for that.
“We started the second half pretty well with a bit of intent. A good side like they are, they came back, but we finished the game off strong.
“Some might say the scoreline flattered us but, at the end of the day, it is a 12-point margin, we could have rolled over against a side that were desperate in England.
“But we didn’t and we gave ourselves as good a chance as any.”
Ireland, who last won the Guinness Six Nations in 2018, have the chance to bounce back from Sunday’s defeat when they host Italy in the first match of Round 4 on March 7.
