ROME (Reuters) - Ireland stand-in coach Simon Easterby was left frustrated by his side’s inability to kill off the match in their 22-17 Six Nations victory over Italy in Rome on Saturday, and admits it has been a mixed campaign for the defending champions.
Ireland scored four tries for a bonus-point win that kept their hopes of a third successive championship title alive for a few hours at least, but Italy took them to the wire.
"It was a little bit frustrating, but five points was the priority and we got that," Easterby told RTE. "We didn't get as many points as we would have liked, but credit must also go to Italy. They are a good team.
"But a lot of it was down to us, there was some pressure put on us by their defence, but you have to be able to deal with that and come out the other side with positive outcomes and we didn't always do that."
Ireland won four of their five Six Nations fixtures in a season when Easterby is deputising for regular coach Andy Farrell, who will lead the British and Irish Lions to Australia this year.
They were not quite the dominant force of recent years, and were outclassed 42-27 by France in Dublin in their one defeat.
"I think we have gone forward as a team, all you want is experience and to build moments and continuity," Easterby said. "We have had some new guys coming in, there is loads of positives about players getting more exposure.
"The Six Nations is totally different to November (the Autumn internationals) in terms of pressure and the opposition. I feel we have moved forward in some areas, in other areas we haven’t.
"We have won four out of five but we still feel we can get better."
Ireland will lose more experience after this campaign with flanker Peter O'Mahony, scrumhalf Conor Murray and prop Cian Healy all retiring from international rugby.
"They have all been incredible. We have known about it a while but you want to make sure you mark it, which we will do tonight by having a few drinks together," Easterby said.
(Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Ed Osmond)
