Crisis?

This time last month Irish fans were absolutely oozing with confidence ahead of the 2019 Guinness Six Nations championship.

Having won a Grand Slam in some style last year, the men in green followed that up with a series win in Australia followed by a clean sweep in November that included a win over the All Blacks.

But things haven’t exactly gone according to plan in this year’s Six Nations. They were well beaten by England at home in the opening round, and despite getting the way away – were pretty lacklustre again a fortnight ago against Scotland.

And today things arguably got even worse. Yes they got the bonus-point win against Italy in Rome, but that was not a performance Ireland will be proud of. Too many mistakes for a side that many have felt for a long time are serious World Cup contenders.

So why haven’t things clicked? This was put to Jacob Stockdale after the game and unfortunately he doesn’t know why.

“That’s the million-dollar question I suppose. I really don’t know” Stockdale said.

“Obviously it’s been frustrating for us a player group. But we’ve two wins out of three now and we’re looking forward to playing as best as we can next week.”