It’s fair to say the quest for a historic three in a row is dead in the water.
The opening draw at home to Wales was followed by a one-point defeat in Paris, and Saturday’s 21-10 loss at Twickenham means the Six Nations table does not make pleasant reading.
Ireland’s final two matches are against their fellow bottom-half dwellers, which should increase their chances of avoiding the worst title defence in the 17-year history of the Six Nations.
That Scotland and Italy have failed to beat anyone outside of each other since 2013 (when they both, infamously, beat Ireland in Declan Kidney’s last season) should give Joe Schmidt’s men confidence going into their final final two home Tests of this year’s Championship.
However failure to beat the Azzurri (Saturday 12th March) and the Scots (Saturday 19th March) could see Ireland replicate or exceed Wales’ disastrous title defence in 2006.
Having won their first Grand Slam in 27 years under Mike Ruddock in 2005, Wales endured a catastrophic 2006 championship – hammered by England and Ireland, they were also beaten by France and only managed one win, over Scotland, as they also drew with Italy.
Ruddock quit two games in as things unravelled badly for the Principality, who finished with just three points from their five games.
Ireland need to win one of their remaining matches to equal this but Schmidt will be focussed on mining the maximum from both fixtures, which may limit the amount of experimentation and blooding of new players he entertains.
