Only our best Dill be good enough

ULTAN CALLS FOR WALES WONDERSHOW

IT might be no bad thing that Ireland finished up the way they did last Sunday. The general verdict was that Joe Schmidt’s side got their mojo back against France. On the back of only a six-day turnaround, facing Grand Slam-hunting Wales on their home patch will be an altogether different prospect.

And conceding two tries to the battered Bleus in the last five minutes left a bad taste among the players, especially the battalion of replacements who had something to prove. But, as Schmidt predicts, an 80-minute performance will be required in Cardiff, not just a 50-minute one.

Wales have not lost a final day Six Nations game at home since Ronan O’gara’s drop goal clinched the Grand Slam for Declan Kidney’s Ireland – 10 years ago.

“We’re happy with how a lot of it went,” said second row Ultan Dillane, reflecting on last Sunday’s performance. “But it’s a completely different team we’re facing this week so the mentality has to be a lot different. We have to respect the quality that they’re going to bring.

“We know it was definitely a step in the right direction for us but the French are not the same as the Welsh.

“They could punish us even more late on so that’s our big focus. The boys did such a good job in the first half and that’s what we’ve been looking for the whole tournament.

“It’s a step in the right direction for us but we were not the complete package because of how we finished off the game.

“Giving them two tries, you could say it was the bench, but we needed to finish off the game properly.”

Connacht man Dillane, 25, came on for Iain Henderson on Sunday, his eighth appearance in the championship, and made a positive impact.

It should be enough to get him the nod for a

bench role with Tadhg Beirne set to start in place of the injured Henderson.

Kerryman Dillane said: “It’s been a while since I’ve had so much game time in this set-up so it’s been a great experience but obviously there’s still plenty of things to work on.

“I’m not overly content with everything. I’m just hoping I can get involved again and to do some better work.”

Dillane burst into limelight with a brilliant Test debut off the bench in Twickenham three years ago but it has been far from plain sailing with two shoulder surgeries since.

The passing of his mother Ellen in February of last year also made it a very difficult time for him.

“My head was elsewhere in terms of what to focus on last season,” he explained.

“As it happened, I just couldn’t play. But I’ve never looked back and thought, ‘I should have done this and that’. I just felt it was a bit awkward.

“But I’m happy to be feeling fit and strong at this stage and hopefully take it back to my province. I’m definitely in a better position than I was.

“It’s not a good sign to be bogged down over nonselection. You need to be able to move on quickly.”

LFA