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22nd September 2019
04:49pm BST

"For us to get a couple of tries, from the forwards’ point of view, in the tight is pleasing. But I think we know it’s just the start and we need to get better. It’s great to have played in four World Cups now but, ultimately, from a personal point of view, that means nothing. That goes to the side. "It’s about making sure that we get better as a collective as we go along.”Best outlasted many of the other senior stars in the Ireland starting XV, even when the bonus point was secured. It was as if he was showing the world - on the same day that the Scots looked out on their feet - that he could go all day. It ended up that he, indeed, had to go all day as replacement hooker Niall Scannell came on in place of flanker Josh van der Flier. 80+ was required and with 14-men for the closing stages, as Tadhg Beirne was sin-binned. Scannell and centre Chris Farrell were the emergency flankers, with CJ Stander bumped to the second row. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/1175707798388269061 That was the task, and Rory Best took to it. The Ireland captain said, post-match, that there had been some stern words within the camp after that 42-point loss to England.
"There were questions externally and it’s hard to get away from it. You talk about being in the bubble but probably the biggest frustration within was that we knew we had a lot more to give. We just weren’t getting it, for whatever reason. “We were happy with our preparation in a lot of those games and [we] just didn’t execute. Maybe we just didn't, as players, put enough pressure on ourselves to execute the plan we were given. Sometimes you need to draw a line in the sand. “We were more disappointed than anyone in Ireland or the world with that England performance. We just said, 'Look, we need to be a lot better than that, and we are a lot better than that'. Our potential is a lot better than that. “It think it was pleasing, the way we played in the next two Wales games and into today. There’s always going to be critics and I think the constructive criticism we get from Joe and the rest of the coaches is probably tougher than anything. And that’s how you learn and get better.”Those final comments drew a smile from Schmidt but the Kiwi will have enjoyed Best's performance even more. CATCH THE LATEST HOUSE OF RUGBY EPISODE HERE SUBSCRIBE HERE TO BAZ & ANDREW'S HOUSE OF RUGBY: https://playpodca.st/house-of-rugby-ie The latest episode sees Barry Murphy, Andrew Trimble and Jerry Flannery look ahead to big World Cup games on the horizon.