Worried.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has admitted he is as worried as everyone else is following a string of poor performances in the Six Nations.

The men in green were defeated at home by England in the opening round and have struggled for form in the last two games against Scotland and Italy despite getting much needed wins.

Comparisons have been made to the 2007 Rugby World Cup team that capitulated despite having a very strong squad that had had previously been in excellent form. Schmidt says he’s concerned – but added that he is always of that minds.

“I would just say I am as worried as they are,” Schmidt said after the win over Italy.

“I do not have any crystal ball, other than to say I know how hard this group work and to say we have had fantastic support, and the group massively appreciate it.

“I’m worried, I was worried this time last year. I worry about the performances when we win. This time last year we won 37-27 against Wales, we’re 30-27 up in the last play of the game and we get an intercept try [from Jacob Stockdale] to get a differential.

“I think you can sugarcoat things sometimes because of where you end up, not because of what you did in the process.

“We beat France with a late drop goal in injury time. I felt we were super in the first half against England [last year]. That’s probably the benchmark and that’s what we’ve got to keep working our way back towards.”

Up next for Ireland is a home fixture with France on March 10 before a visit to Cardiff to take on Wales in the final round.

[The42.ie]