As tempting as it is to start rebuilding for a World Cup crack in 2027, there is a significant piece of Six Nations history for Ireland to target in the short term.
No team has ever won the Guinness Six Nations outright – or even the old Five Nations – three times in a row.
Ireland’s previous crack at the three-peat never really got off the ground as they drew with Wales and then lost to France in a World Cup hangover in 2016.
If Ireland are to go where no team has ever gone and win three in a row, doing it without head coach Andy Farrell would be a remarkable achievement.
While Farrell is away prepping his British and Irish Lions tour to Australia this summer, Simon Easterby steps in as the night…