Greg McWilliams has stressed the importance of Ireland being "clinical" against Scotland in their final TikTok Women's Six Nations fixture if they are to win and avoid a wooden spoon finish.
Defeat in Edinburgh on Saturday evening (7.30pm) would condemn Ireland to the third tier of the new WXV tournament, while, in reality, they need a handsome win with a bonus point to get off the bottom of the table.
So the tone in the Ireland press conference today was different with more emphasis being placed on result rather than performance as the head coach named an unchanged team to the one beaten 48-0 last weekend, a record home loss to England.
"It's important this week that we can marry the resilience and the bravery that we showed in that game but be more clinical when we have the ball, be more clinical when we have the opportunity to mount some points," McWilliams, whose team contain eight of the starters who beat Scotland 15-14 last season, told RTÉ Sport.
"In the past, maybe the last game of the Six Nations didn't mean anything but this is a huge game for both countries. There is no doubt we are going out there to do our best to get the win.
"It about being more clinical and showing that our performance is well able to play at a good pace and hopefully we get some tries and build up some scores."
Acknowledging that improvement is needed in a malfunctioning lineout, McWilliams said the coaching staff hadn't considered handing throwing duties over to number 8 Deirbhile Nic a Bháird, who has experience at hooker, from the outset.
A back row throwing the ball in to the lineout happened as recently as March when Josh van der Flier was called up for the entire second half of Ireland's Six Nations win over Scotland.
At the same time that Neve Jones (above) has posted some incredible tackle statistics, her throwing from touch has not been up to international standard.
"No, we haven't," replied McWilliams when asked about relieving Jones of throwing duties.
"Lineout doesn't function for a few reasons: it can be to do with timing, it can be to do with confidence and our job as a management team is to give the players the tools to work on their skills this week.
"Neve would have worked hard with Denis [Fogarty, scrum coach] around lineout throwing.
"It's something he's really good at. We're really happy with our lineout and where it is.
"Once they get one or two good lineouts, that work with the speed and the accuracy that we know we can be, I think from there you'll see our lineout working.
"I believe our lineout has the ability to be excellent. We believe it will be this weekend.
25 - @IrishRugby's Neve Jones made 25 tackles without missing against England on Saturday, the most of any player to record a 100% success rate in a single @Womens6Nations game this year – Jones has made more tackles than any other player in the Championship in 2023 (74). Wall. pic.twitter.com/QOHk0tKUG4
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) April 24, 2023
"Neve gives you so much around the park. She had 25 tackles last week, she has over 75 tackles in this year's Six Nations.
"John McKee [senior coach] has done a terrific job around the lineout and it hasn't just clicked yet.
"Sometimes that the beauty of sport and battling through those moments and we are excited to see where the lineout is this weekend.
"We've worked hard, we've had good chunks of time, players have bought into it and John has a clear process.
"Trust me, we totally understand the importance of your set-piece, our scrum is also evolving...it's getting better and better.
"In this game you need your lineout to function. There's no doubt the players will be looking to show how good that lineout can be."
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