Josh van der Flier summed up the mood in the Ireland dressing-room when he admitted that Ireland needed to be more clinical despite racking up 57 points against Italy.
Head coach Andy Farrell admitted it there was a "flat" atmosphere among his playing group - victory was bittersweet given the fact that Ireland scored nine tries against the Azzurri but lacked the fluency and cohesion that has marked recent displays.
However Van der Flier deserved his man of the match award for taking the game to the Azzurri with a series of buccaneering runs that the visitors found extremely difficult to stop, thus enhancing his reputation as a player who has become one of the most dangerous ball carriers in the business.
"It was a funny game once they went to 13 men, a very different game," he admitted. "They did well, they made it quite difficult for us. We needed to be a lot more clinical.
"The result is good but we can definitely be better. Full credit to Italy.
"I suppose for the supporters you want 15 against 15, but I understand in certain situations you have to give reds and yellows.
"I didn’t get to see what happened, we were in a huddle planning what to do next, but I suppose there needs to be discipline in the game."
Van der Flier stressed that Ireland's work at the breakdown wasn't up to standard and must improve ahead of the England clash in less than a fortnight.
"It was something that wasn’t so pleasing," he said.
"Italy went hard there but we know we can be a lot better from our ball-carrier, in a couple of instances could have got it back quicker and then at other times, ruckers getting here quickly.
"So a combination of things. They got good poaches under pressure so we’re not pleased with how that worked out.
"We lacked a bit of accuracy. It’s always hard against 14 or 13 when you’re trying to get to the space, you need to play like it’s 15 and just pick the holes.
"The ruck could be improved and there will be other details we will look at that we didn’t get quite right. So we’ll have a bit of work to do."
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