The manner of the win against France won't cause any complacency in the Ireland side, says Andy Farrell.
Widely heralded as one of the best displays of Farrell's tenure, the head coach insists he is looking for more against Italy tomorrow in their second Guinness Six Nations match.
Ireland scored five tries and were in control for the majority of the game against Les Bleus, who played for over an hour with 14 men following yellow and then red cards for Paul Willemse.
The hosts have a phenomenal record against Italy in the championship, losing only once in 24 championship matches.
The average winning margin in Dublin is 29 points.
"You know me, I’m not disrespectful to anyone," said Farrell, who took over in 2019, when asked about the danger of over-confidence creeping into camp.
"It’s not the way that I am but, honestly, it is about us.
"It’s about us improving on last week, and the expectation that we’ve got within our own four walls, of an understanding of how we kick on, as you constantly hear me say, in all parts of our game.
"It's genuine, it’s there, it’s obvious to see for us the levels that we need to get to, not just on the field but off the field as well.
"The players are very honest and it’d be wrong for us to waste a week and not progress."
As for areas for improvement, the 48-year-old (above) said there were "loads".
"Our breakdown and line-out were outstanding last week, but that can get better. It can, and the proof is there for us to see," he said.
"Paul [O’Connell, forwards coach] did a review-preview yesterday, and our breakdown was immense against France. But you’d come away from that five minutes thinking that we were rubbish in that area.
"Just because it matters, it matters to show people what it means to be striving to get better. It’s been a hard enough week, because when you do win with a victory like that, you’re able to go, 'no, that’s not the level’.
"Hopefully our ambition keeps driving us to keep on aspiring to get better anyway."
Farrell has made six changes to the side that won in France, with versatile Leinster forward Ryan Baird (above) set for his 17th cap, starting in place of injured captain Peter O’Mahony.
The head coach said: "His points of difference are there for all to see, so I don’t need to go there really, but the added pieces that have been put to his game this year, certainly from a line-out point of view, has been very impressive to see at Leinster, especially the defensive line-out.
"And not just that, in broken field play and making line-breaks, and one-off big 40-metre runs is there for all to see, but at the same time the detail of the intricacies of forward play, loose-forward play.
"I suppose he’s been stuck, and he still is a hybrid player, certainly is for us and I’m sure he is for Leinster as well, but it looks like it’s leaning more towards the 6 point of view. He’s getting more comfortable within that."
The 24-year-old played twice for Ireland during the World Cup, coming off the bench against Tonga and South Africa but didn’t make the squad for the quarter-final loss to New Zealand.
"He was disappointed in the World Cup," added Farrell of Baird, who stands 6ft 6in and weighs 16st 4lbs.
"I’ve no doubt he was one of the players that went back after the World Cup and said, ‘right, this is going to be a different year for me’.
"He has started the season that way. He did well coming off the bench, it’s a different kettle of fish starting a game, isn’t it?
"I think he came off the bench against Italy last year, so to start in a back row that’s a strong back row is going to be exciting for him and the team."
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