Ireland 'still hungry to get better' - Bemand
A lot has changed in the past two years for Scott Bemand and his youthful Ireland squad. When Ireland last hosted Wales, Bemand was on the search for his first victory as head coach after taking over at the helm of an Ireland team who had recently finished bottom of the Six Nations table. Now, two years later, the side were the comfortable victors against Wales and have breathing space in third position.
"We said at the very beginning [when he became head coach], it was about belief," Bemand said. "So, when I first came in, the first season was just about getting the girls to believe they could actually be quite good, and giving themselves permission to go and be brave, knowing they can perform under pressure. "Where that's changed over the two years is now, they know they can be good.
So now it's about executing when pressure dials up and dials down. " Ireland 'starting to handle bigger occasions' France and England will battle it out for the Six Nations title in the final match next weekend and, even though Ireland aren't pushing those heavyweights, they now established themselves as a young, upcoming squad. Their victory over Wales is their second of this campaign after an impressive 57-20 win over Italy, who occupy fourth spot.
"We're starting to handle bigger occasions and bigger pressure more, and with that comes more expectation. But that's the cool thing, that's where we want to be," he continued. "Our next thing now is we're going to start converting that belief, that confidence, that understanding and that we're quite good into results.
"We'll get there, the trajectory is still up and we're still hungry to get better. So no doubt we'll get there and as quick as we can get there, the quicker the better. Despite their progress, Bemand also acknowledged they still have room to improve.