Ireland's Jack Conan believes that their thumping 60-5 win over Japan at the Aviva Stadium was another reminder of the strong back row options available to Andy Farrell and his coaching team.
Conan was Man of the Match against the Brave Blossoms while Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris were also steady as they earned starting spots in a highly competitive area of the squad right now.
"We’re pretty mobile between the three of us and then obviously Pete (O’Mahony) coming on adding his versatility and his ability in the line-out and stuff, which is great," Conan said.
"We’re pushing each other the whole time to get the best out of everyone, it's onwards and upwards now.
"It was a good start, we’ll have a look during the week and we’ll fix up on things we have to get right and we’ll go again next weekend (against New Zealand)."
The All Blacks will certainly offer much stiffer challenge in Dublin next Saturday, and they served notice of their ability once again with a 47-9 win over Italy on Saturday bringing their try total to 96 for 2021 – the most ever scored in a calendar year.
Conan said that all they can do is trust their own ability and see where it takes them.
"I think we’re just backing the skillset that we have and the ability of the players that the coaches have picked.
"It was pretty evident there today. We trusted ourselves, we were playing into holes and playing into the space, it was a pretty good start to our campaign."
One thing llikely next weekend is a red-hot atmosphere from what will be a sold-out Aviva Stadium. It wasn’t full for the Japan game, but the place was still rocking as restrictions on attendance for an Irish rugby game were lifted for the first time since February 2020.
Some of the more ear-bursting moments were reserved for Johnny Sexton as he celebrated his 100th Test cap, and Conan said it was brilliant to be back playing in front of such an excited crowd.
"Unbelievable," was how he described it.
"It was great to have the fans back and the atmosphere, you could hear the noise.
"I don’t think I ever heard a noise as loud as when Johnny went over in the corner, that was something that was incredibly special and it was great to mark the big man’s big day with a great win and a great performance."
