Michael Sadlier: Triple Crown a welcome silver lining ahead of Ireland’s summer visit to New Zealand

That said, this Triple Crown was still particularly nice for Andy Farrell and his coaching ticket in terms of claiming some shiny stuff but, again, what we saw yesterday was not what you would call vintage Ireland now, right?

The general idea was that Scotland – plagued by internal problems linked to unauthorized socializing – would be overthrown by an Irish side who would try to bounce back from their neglect after the victory at Twickenham and very eager to win the crown at home. for the first time. at 18 in proper style.

It didn’t quite work out that way, and Ireland had to wait for the 77^and minute for their bonus points try when James Lowe off-loading saw Conor Murray struggle with his body on the right side of the try line.

Before that there had been enough decent moments as Ireland ignored the penalty shootout for the essential requirement to chase the five points in the first place with an eye on the impact on the Championship table .

And within that, performances from Jamison Gibson-Park and Dan Sheehan, with additional efforts from Lowe, Mack Hansen, Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier and Iain Henderson, all added value to the overall effort.

But there was also frustration. The driving mauls were nowhere near as threatening as expected, while the loss of balls in possession brought a mess to this hoped-for crowning achievement that took just that bit of a shine from the achievement.

There were problems again during the breakdown where Hamish Watson and Rory Darge caused problems and things could have been more complicated for Ireland had Stuart Hogg decided to use one of the two free players in him in the 48th minute instead of greedily aiming for glory and getting nailed. by Hugo Keenan in the corner.

It seemed like overplay was only ending in mistakes and Ireland’s best ploy was to punch the line through Gibson-Park’s space awareness rather than play the tricks- passes and disguised passes.

It was a strange game in that respect, with Ireland not scoring often enough and Scotland, well, just not scoring and undermining themselves with aplomb.

As a signing ahead of Ireland’s summer tour of New Zealand – yes, the All Blacks are vengefully waiting in the air – it won’t exactly instill great confidence. You would also like to think that, unlike the situation during the preparation and the last World Cup in Japan, the opponents have not yet found how to outwit the Irish style of play.

But let’s remember, Ireland ended up winning four out of five games in this Six Nations and won try bonuses in each of those wins. And they won a Triple Crown, their first Six Nations success since 2018.

So, should we even be worried? Maybe only if Ireland play South Africa or the All Blacks in a World Cup environment, or France in any tournament. Then it’s time to feel uncomfortable.

But, for now, enjoy this Triple Crown.