‘It’s one win’ – Ireland staying grounded after squashing France in Six Nations

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has refused to get carried away after his side beat France 38-17 in the opening round of the Six Nations on Friday.

The clash was billed as a possible decider for the tournament with Ireland and Les Bleus the obvious favourites to go on and win the title.

Despite what many thought the game did not end up being as close as expected as France failed to find a spark without leader and talisman Antoine Dupont who has switched to Sevens to fulfil his Olympic dream at the Paris 2024 games later this year.

Ireland on the other hand entered a new era with Peter O’Mahony as skipper and Jack Crowley as the new incumbent fly-half filling the boots of Johnny Sexton which he did ever so well in Marseille on Friday.

“Feelgood factor”

Farrell admits that a win of that kind feels good and shows the team is heading in the right direction but underlined that the team are not getting carried away.

“We want to be in it (title contention) at the last week but internally we’re hungry to be as good as we possibly can be,” he said.

“In reality it’s one win, it’s one win out of one and we’ve got to be on to the next one.

“It (the championship) is not won or lost but it’s about building on this.

“We tend to be pretty harsh on our performances when we’ve won because we’re able to do that and make some good points so hopefully we’re able to get better because of that.

“But the feelgood factor of a victory like that… it’s a special victory, it definitely is and it’s there to be celebrated, that’s for sure.”

Italian job

Next up for the title favourites is a home game against Italy who gave England’s Red Rose a scare in round one but ultimately fell short at home.

There is always the chance Farrell could rotate some positions for the clash as he has done in past but the coach insists that cohesion is the most important thing and that will be a factor in selection.

“Whatever’s right for the team,” he said of selection for next weekend.

“There’s always the balance about opportunity but also doing what’s right for the team and the cohesion of the team going forward.

“It’s a bit of an awkward one, isn’t it? We’ve only had one game together so we’ll how we shape up on Monday.”

READ MORE: Antoine Dupont opens up on France ‘difficulties’ as ‘too many obstacles’ prevent Six Nations win