‘Ireland on the right path but remain in the chasing pack’

The half-joke doing the rounds after Ireland’s autumn clean sweep was delivered with nervous laughter and tinged with genuine fear.

Ireland have peaked too early before; found short term success that wasn’t sustained.

This is not a precursor to a desperate attempt at claiming Ireland somehow dodged a bullet by not winning the Grand Slam.

They would far rather be in France’s shoes, and their task now is to close the considerable, but not insurmountable, gap between themselves and Les Bleus.

Over the course of the Six Nations Ireland proved themselves to be exactly what the final standings say they are: the second best team in the northern hemisphere.

Their campaign was not an extension of the bombastic, thundering win over New Zealand but a functional and generally satisfying eight-week block of work that ought to put them in a good position to keep moving forward.

The point being made by Johnny Sexton and Andy Farrell after their win over Scotland was that there was more to come from the current squad, and the journey remained far from its destination.

You might argue that those inside the walls will always say that, but so would they.

Earlier in the week Sexton offered a reminder of how the team was perceived when things were going badly in the middle of last year’s Six Nations, and how at the time he was as convinced as he is now that they were on the right path.

Over the five games Ireland proved they have the capacity to win and ultimately do it convincingly even when they remain far from top gear.

Against Scotland Farrell’s side never looked like throwing away a game everyone thought they would win, although Stuart Hogg fed Sam Johnson on the inside as opposed to giving Hugo Keenan the chance to make a brilliant try-saving tackle, the picture may have changed.

Ball wasn’t always going to hand, their set-piece was mostly solid but not infallible and yet they created enough pressure and chances to comfortably deliver the desired result.

It was less comfortable against England, but the events at Twickenham in the penultimate week of the championship were similar in that they reinforced Ireland’s ability to overcome imperfections and grind out a five-point win.

By the same token this is not an unequivocally positive thing. In winning four of their five games, how many times could you really say Ireland produced the sort of rugby that suggests they are capable of operating on the same level as France?

The opening exchanges against Wales and England looked good, as did the early second-half revival in Paris. In all cases, though, the flowing and in some moments irrepressible rugby did not stay the course.

All of Ireland’s wins were delivered on a platform built not by the attack but a miserly defense that was the biggest success story of their campaign.

The blockbuster return of Paul O’Connell to the set-up prior to last year’s tournament saw Simon Easterby move to defense coach, where the former back row has overseen the implementation of a system that seeks to suffocate the opponent, requiring the attack to expend more energy than the defence.

Ireland conceded just four tries all tournament. Two of those were against France, who conceded the second fewest with seven.

Admittedly the numbers are aided by twice playing sides that had a man, or in Italy’s case two men, sent off early in the contest, but Ireland’s defensive efforts have long been identified by Farrell as the key to building long-term success, and they have created a system that is functioning at a high level.

What was notable in Sexton and Farrell’s last post-match press conference of the tournament was their willingness to discuss their side’s progress in the context of next year’s World Cup.

For a long time they have pushed back against the notion that international rugby runs on a four-year cycle that is almost entirely geared towards arriving at the World Cup in the best possible shape.

Barring Italy last month and two summer games in which most of his senior players were either rested or with the Lions, Farrell has generally picked his strongest available side for every game.

It has been about winning every Test match, which they have managed in 12 of their past 13 outings.

A three-match tour of New Zealand in the summer will test the feel-good factor that still surrounds Ireland to its limit; a winning record could very quickly turn into a losing streak if they are off by just a little bit.

The attacking inaccuracies that they got away with at times in the Six Nations will no longer be excused.

That is the challenge now for Ireland, who have established themselves as a thoroughly formidable outfit.

Yet they are not the team to beat.

They remain in the chasing pack, albeit closer to the front than they were a year ago.