And on Joe McCarthy’s haircut: “It’s aspirational, that mullet, but he has worked hard on it in fairness to him and he’s very proud of it, as you can see!”
Ireland back row Josh van der Flier insists Ireland won’t be complacent after their opening Six Nations victory.
Asked about the potential for historic back to back Grand Slam triumphs, the flanker said: “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves – there’s still four big games left, so we’ll take it step by step.”
But what could stop Irish fans getting excited after an emphatic victory over the 2022 champions on their home patch in Marseille.
Italy suffer massive injury blow ahead of Ireland clash In an opening week collision that many believe would determine the overall winners, it was the men in green who reigned superior – winning in France for the first time in the tournament since 2018.
There was no question that this was one of the great performances by an Irish team.
Van der Flier acknowledged the importance of the result.
“Any team you play away in France, whether it’s club or country away, it’s always a very hard place to play and to do it for Ireland is a very special day,” he said.
It was a game that allowed for a new wave of Irish talent to make their Six Nations breakthrough, with Andy Farrell handing two exciting young talents their championship debuts.
Twenty-two-year-old lock Joe McCarthy and 26-year-old winger Calvin Nash impressed, with Nash scoring a try and McCarthy taking home the player of the match award.
Van der Flier didn’t need to hand out any advice to the marauding McCarthy in the build-up.
“Not particularly, no, he’s a great lad,” he said. “He’s got a good head on his shoulders.”
And his haircut? “It’s a good haircut, yeah,” laughed van der Flier.
“It’s aspirational, that mullet, but he has worked hard on it in fairness to him and he’s very proud of it, as you can see!”.
Then there was also 24-year-old Jack Crowley, who was making his first Six Nations start and had a daunting task in replacing the retired legend Johnny Sexton at fly-half.
Despite the pressure that may have been felt by the Corkman, Crowley grew in stature as the game progressed.
