Published Monday, 06 February 2012
Beaten 23-21 at home by Wales on Sunday just four months after suffering World Cup elimination against the same opponents, Ireland's tournament will effectively be over before it has barely started should they lose at the Stade de France on Saturday night.
The good news for coach Declan Kidney, who came under fire in sections of the Irish media today following Wales' dramatic late victory, is that he has no major injury concerns.
Centre Keith Earls is due to rejoin the squad after missing the Wales game for personal reasons, with Kidney expected to announce his team on Thursday.
"We've buckets to work on and six days to do it. I know we are a lot better than that," Kidney said.
"We put ourselves under a lot of pressure defensively. We had to defend for 60%-plus of the game, and if you do that, you are going to ask for trouble.
"You have to give credit to Wales. Sometimes it is not just all down to you, but there are some aspects that we can be disappointed with individually.
"We have to be smart enough to do the work that needs to be done, but wise enough to understand that it is a six-day turnaround," he said.