Joe Schmidt Has A Different Outlook On Ireland’s Performance Against Scotland

Ireland just weren’t out of the blocks quick enough.

That seems to be the general consensus this week after Ireland’s defeat to Scotland in the opening round of the Six Nations.

Three first-half tries from the Scots, meant Ireland went in at half-time trailing the Vern Cotter’s men, with a huge task on their hands in the second-half.

All week people have criticised and lamented Ireland’s slow start to the game, but for boss Joe Schmidt, his biggest disappointment from the game wasn’t the start- it was the finish.

“The biggest disappointment for me personally is not the start, its’s the finish, and it’s the finishing.”

“I think we had 9 line breaks.

I know we scored our tries mostly on penalty advantages, because it was very hard to get a line break and then to keep playing off it because they made it very difficult, but at the same time i felt there were definitely opportunities from set-pieces close to the line (and) from overlaps we created.

Do you agree? Did Ireland let themselves down more in the second-half as opposed to the first?