Ireland halfback Conor Murray says his side’s Six Nations triumph shows they are ready to make a major impact at the World Cup.
Joe Schmidt’s team retained the Six Nations title for the first time since 1949 with a 40-10 victory over Scotland in Edinburgh on Saturday.
England fell short of the required points-difference total to overhaul Ireland, despite a 55-35 victory over France, ensuring the trophy stays in Dublin.
British and Irish Lions ace Murray has been impressed by Schmidt’s no-nonsense approach in overhauling Ireland’s gameplan and he backed the Kiwi head coach to ensure his squad are even more finely tuned by the time the World Cup starts later this year.
“We are at a good level anyway, but I still think we can improve quite a lot,” Murray said.
“Every game through the Six Nations there have been things we have been frustrated with and we haven’t executed quite as well as we wanted to, but overall we are very satisfied with the way we have handled this championship.
“It’s exciting that we can improve and with a World Cup coming up it’s a great position to be in.”
Ireland will be gunning to top Pool D ahead of the likes of France in the World Cup, to tee up a likely quarter-final against Argentina.
Schmidt’s analytical and relentless approach has raised hopes among Ireland players that they can pass the last-eight stage for the first time at a World Cup and Munster star Murray is confident they will do just that.
“Right now we are going to relax and enjoy what we have done but when it comes to going back to camp and we gather again, we will be looking forward to a World Cup and that is really exciting for us,” Murray said.
“Constantly through the Six Nations we have performed well, we have played well but there have been a few areas where we know we can do better.
“That is quite exciting for us as a team with back-to-back championships now.
“We know we can get better and push on. Joe is a world-class coach and there is no secret there.
“The way he has the group organised, it is player-driven as well.
“We take on board what he says and we really believe what he gives us and we have huge belief in the squad at the moment.”
