More to come from Irish, warns Fogarty

Ireland supporters have been promised “there’s plenty more to come” from their team ahead of a Six Nations showdown with Grand Slam champions Wales.

Andy Farrell’s reign as head coach began with a nervy win over Scotland, in a Dublin atmosphere which new captain Johnny Sexton described as “flat”.

They are back at the Aviva Stadium today and will need to produce a vastly improved performance against an inform Welsh side who have won eight successive games in this competition.

Scrum coach John Fogarty is enthusiastic about the potential in Ireland’s squad but also warned fans that improvement will be a gradual process.

“We’ve had a number of weeks prep for Scotland, we’ve another week in us now. There’s plenty more to come,” said 42-year-old Fogarty. “there have been huge positives out of last week. As a group we’re excited about where we can go with the team.”

Wales will aim to stay firmly in contention for a second successive Grand Slam and not be blown off course by Storm Ciara, which is set to arrive this afternoon in Dublin,

where Wales have not won a Six Nations game since 2012.

“Hopefully, we are not talking too much about the weather after the game,” captain Alun Wyn Jones said. “It is very easy to say we are going to do this, do that, without playing the environment.

“We are not paid to be robots, we are paid to make decisions and adapt to whatever and problem-solve. You’ve got to be able to play both [types of game].

“There is the platinum game and it is about being able to step down sometimes and adjust to the bronze game.”