Simon Easterby: Any issues with Irish lineout have already been fixed

“Certainly in the first half we didn’t react particularly well on our own ball but also theirs; we gave them some serious momentum. We turned it around in the second half, we fixed a few things and were far more dominant. All the things we didn’t get right are easily fixable and have been in the first couple of days this week.”

Analysis: Ireland get taste of own medicine in early stages against Wales

Easterby is expecting another challenge at lineout time from the Scots.

“Of course. They had a pretty effective lineout on the weekend, won all of theirs and stole of a few of England’s,” he says.

“They’re very tricky opposition. They are well drilled, well coached. I know Jonathan Humphreys who coaches their forwards from his days at the Ospreys and also obviously Vern (Cotter) coming in now has made a huge contribution to what they do up front, their forward play.

“They pose a huge threat right across their forward pack but they also have a backline that can complement that forward play.”

Ireland obviously need a win at Edinburgh as well as possibly needing a few scores to spare in order to defend the championship. But Easterby insists no one’s getting ahead of themselves.

“You’ve got to focus on what you can do in that 80 minutes. We’ve got to focus on what we can produce in Murrayfield. The performance first and foremost will give us the right result and what goes outside of our environment in Rome and London is exactly that, it is outside our control and we can’t factor that into what we’re doing in the 80 minutes against Scotland.

“They are going to make it difficult enough as it is without us focusing on what else is going on elsewhere. We’ve got to focus on our job and make sure that is right and hopefully that puts us in the best possible position come Saturday evening,” he says.

Ireland face Scotland before England take on France in London, giving Stuart Lancaster’s side the advantage of knowing their target, leaving some to question the integrity of the competition this week.

“We just have to focus on what we can do and the fixtures have been in place for a long time. That is the way it is. Some years it falls for you and some years it doesn’t. That is maybe the case this year.”