Ireland No.8 Jamie Heaslip believes improvements must be made following their unconvincing win against Italy in the RBS Six Nations.
Ireland No.8 admits progress must be made
Ireland No.8 Jamie Heaslip believes improvements must be made ahead of their RBS Six Nations match against France following an unconvincing victory against Italy.
The Grand Slam champions never hit top form at Croke Park on Saturday and produced a laboured performance to beat the visitors 29-11.
Ronan O'Gara kicked 16 points for Ireland, with Heaslip and Tomas O'Leary both adding one try each.
But with a trip to the Stade de France against tournament favourites France coming up on Saturday, Heaslip admits progress must be made.
He said "We were all over the place at points in the second half and lost our shape a bit.
Improvement
"There was a load of kicking and it was hard to build any momentum, but we're happy with the way our lineout and scrum went.
"The game got loose at times and we needed to buckle down. Instead of throwing the ball around we needed to square up a bit more. In the end we did.
"We'll improve on those things and hopefully be in better shape against France. There are little things that need to be tweaked. There's nothing to be worried about.
"A bit of tweaking and it will be fine. It was a first day out in a few weeks for some of the boys.
"It was good to get the win and get the ball rolling and I'm sure we'll be in good shape for next week.
"France will be as aggressive as the Italians and will look to attack a bit more. I don't know if they'll kick as much though."
