Simon Easterby believes Ireland have signalled their intent by emerging from their “pivotal” Murrayfield test on Sunday in pole position for a third consecutive Guinness Six Nations title.
The men in emerald green followed up their opening-weekend win at home to England with a convincing 32-18 away triumph over Scotland to move four points clear at the top of the table with a maximum haul of 10 points.
Having struggled at times to get their game going against the Red Rose, Easterby was impressed with the way Ireland went about their business in Edinburgh to make it 11 successive wins over the Scots and keep themselves on track for a Grand Slam.
“England at home, first game of the Championship, what we did last week was nowhere near perfect,” said interim head coach Easterby.
“But we knew that Scotland would always be a pivotal game in the respects of coming away from home, the history of the game, everything that we felt like we could put into place, and it didn’t disappoint in terms of the performance from our end.
“It was crucial that we did what we did and continued that momentum.
“I thought we played in the right way away from home and Sam (Prendergast) was a big part of that in terms of the way he dictated where we played in the game. Part of that was us forcing ourselves on Scotland and not letting up and not allowing them to dictate at home the pace or the momentum of the game.
“I think it’s a vital part of playing away from home, making sure that you attack the game in the right way but you also play in the right areas and allow yourself to get into the game.”
Easterby felt it was a sign of Ireland’s mentality that they dealt with the absence of key players Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy and Mack Hansen against the Scots, and then fended off a revival from Gregor Townsend’s team in which they closed from 17-0 down to 17-11 early in the second half.
“We’ve faced those challenges head-on, I reckon, over the last couple of years and we’ve dealt with them,” he said. “We haven’t allowed it to derail us in any way. It’s just the group that we’ve got.
“The number of caps and experience we’ve got in the group allows you to make good decisions in those moments. It means then that we’re pretty calm and accurate on the back of it.”
Ireland’s title bid continues a week on Saturday in Cardiff, where they are widely expected to swat aside a Wales side who suffered a 14th consecutive defeat after losing away to Italy at the weekend.
“There’s so much passion and so much support for their national team, and at the moment, they’re in a tough place,” said Easterby, assessing the Welsh.
“They probably weren’t particularly happy with the weather (in Rome). Once they got behind, it was hard to play in those conditions.
“But they certainly showed as the game went on that they got stronger and they were able to get back in the game. They just didn’t probably have long enough to do that.
“We know that it (Cardiff) is a hell of a place to go and play. The roof will be closed, the atmosphere will be like it is every time you play in the Principality Stadium against Wales, 75,000 passionate people that want and will their team to success.
“I’m a big believer in making sure that we play each game as it comes and that will be no different.
“We’ll enjoy this week, a bit of downtime, but we’ll make sure we get prepared well for that Wales challenge.”
