Brittany Hogan: Ireland taking positives but composure is key

Brittany Hogan believes Ireland are just a few tweaks away from breaking their Guinness Women's Six Nations losing streak, as attention now turns to next week's meeting with Wales in Cork.

With the championship on a down-week, the Irish players were given a couple of days off following Sunday's 27-21 loss to Italy at the RDS, with their next outing against Wales at Virgin Media Park on Saturday 13 April.

Having trailed 27-14 late in the second half, Ireland almost staged a dramatic comeback when Katie Corrigan's try on 77 minutes brought them within six points, and while they launched one final attack on the Italian line, the visitors secured a turnover to inflict a seventh straight championship defeat on Scott Bemand's side.

But while Ireland had to rally in the final 10 minutes to secure a losing bonus-point, the reality is that it was a game they should have won.

The hosts dominated possession and territory, making 18 entries to the Italian 22 for an average of just 1.17 points per visit. Italy, meanwhile, were clinical with limited opportunities to attack, scoring 27 points from just seven entries to Ireland's 'Redzone'.

According to the revised stats provided by the Six Nations, Ireland's handling errors topped out at a whopping 28, as they continually left scoring opportunities behind.

And number 8 Hogan (below) says they were hugely disappointed by their lack of composure.

"It's just the composure element, we have to make sure that whenever we're there, we're not the ones under pressure," she said.

"We're 10, 20 meters from the tryline, that's whenever Italy are under pressure, under the pump. We have to capitalise on that and make sure we stick to our system. If we have to slow it down, we need to slow it down, but we're