Ireland are 40% below Six Nations benchmark set by England, admits Joe Schmidt

The two sides meet in Dublin on Sunday, March 1

Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has admitted his team will have to be 'significantly improved' if they are to get the better of France and England in their next two Six Nations outings. Ireland beat Italy 26-3 at Stadio Olimpico but were forced to scrap for every point they got. The reining champions lead the early standings on points difference but Schmidt believes Stuart Lancaster's England 'set the benchmark' in their 21-16 win over Wales on Friday. Asked how much Ireland would have to improve when England come to town, next month, Schmidt replied, 'I'm not a guy to throw numbers out but I'd say we're between 30 and 40% off. I don't think we would have lived with them [on Friday] and I think Wales did pretty good. For us, we certainly need to up out game.' Schmidt says the Irish coaching and medical staff erred on the side of caution when it came to injuries to Sean O'Brien [hamstring] and Rory Best [head knock]. The Tullow Tank did not make the starting line-up while Best was withdrawn from play after 47 minutes. 'We didn't want a repeat of what happened here last time [in 2013],' said Schmidt, who is 'hopeful and quietly confident' he will get good news on O'Brien after a Sunday evening scan in Dublin. The New Zealander was disappointed that a "disjointed" Ireland could not break through for the early tries that would have made for an easier day's work. He highlighted forward passes, loose kicking and 'very physical' Italian defence as reasons Ireland were drawn into a dogfight. The coach's comments were echoed by Ireland captain Paul O'Connell. 'In the second-half,' he stated, 'once we were a little more accurate, held onto ball, we were able to put them under more pressure and that told... patience was a big part of it.' Schmidt praised Ian Keatley's 100% goal-kicking display for putting the Italians under scoreboard pressure but admitted the Munster out-half was guilty, at times, of nervousness. Coach and player will address that issue early next week. H/t: K.Rowan