GILBERT Ireland International Replica Rugby Ball , 5 - Ireland

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Ultimately, Ireland’s Grand Slam bid goes on. A five-try bonus point win making it three from three for the men in green. But this was far squeakier than anyone really expected. Former Ireland number eight Jamie Heaslip on Radio 5 Live: "It's a great day for the Irish. They are a special group with a different mindset to the past. They are comfortable with being the number one side in the world." Ireland's route to the Grand Slam A lot of the pre-match talk in Ireland had revolved around Ross Byrne, standing in for captain Johnny Sexton. He did perfectly well, although Ireland certainly missed Sexton’s reassuring presence.

He could be forgiven. This Italy team under Kieran Crowley are fast improving and the Six Nations is all the better for it.And what do they need to seal the grand slam? “I think an overall performance … definitely on the discipline side of things … that’s one big thing we talked about the whole week … I can certainly say I was one of them who wasn’t disciplined.” There was all sorts of manic toing and froing in the endgame before Libbok drilled a penalty from halfway to the corner, but an imposing drive was eventually stopped and held up. But fair play to Italy, they gave it to us, but fair play to our boys for digging in deep as well.” Andy Farrell's side set a new national record of eight straight Six Nations wins, surpassing the seven-game streak they set between 2004 and 2005

We're not just turning things around for the sake of it, we are turning things around because we think it's a strong side for us going forward, for this game and for the future as well. SCORING SEQUENCE – 6 mins: Libbok pen, 3-0; 33: Hansen try, Sexton con, 3-7 ( half-time, 3-7); 51: Kolbe try, 8-7; 59: Sexton pen, 8-10; 77: Crowley pen, 8-13. An estimated 24,000 travelled over from Ireland, and while there was a strong contingent of Springbok supporters it still looked about four to one in Irish tops. Unlike the Aviva, even Ireland’s Call thundered around the cantilever stands.New Zealand have a few ghosts in their machine, with some of their ageing players not as evergreen as those on the other team and a level of performance that has been strong but just below the very best. Ironically, they would do well to take inspiration from one of their famous defeats: England in the 2019 semi, where a strong but unfancied team came up against a juggernaut and ran it off the road. More simply, they may just remind themselves that they absolutely battered today’s opponents in the QF the week before. Andy Farrell apologised to his mum after being caught biting his nails during the second half of this see-sawing and highly entertainnig game. “Was I?” asked Ireland’s head coach, laughing. “I shouldn’t do that. My mother's going to be mad.” They have earned the right to start," said Farrell. "And, from what we have seen so far, it's been a good start to the week. Their ill-discipline kept giving easy ball to Ireland. A good performance by England but the focus should be on this tremendous Irish side.