Simon Easterby's defence a key element for Ireland - Bernard Jackman

Ireland's ability to grind out wins is a crucial takeaway from this month's Autumn Nations Series according to Bernard Jackman and Mick Kearney.

Andy Farrell's side capped off an excellent year with a 13-10 win against Australia last Saturday, their ninth victory from 11 games in the calendar year, and continuing a run of 12 home victories in a row.

And although they struggled at times to get their attacking game working, particularly against South Africa and Australia, their defense was hugely impressive, conceding a combined three tries and just 26 points across those two games.

In particular, Ireland's defence excelled last week against the Wallabies, limiting Dave Rennie's side to just 10 points, despite Australia having more than eight minutes of possession in the Irish 22.

And Jackman says defence coach Simon Easterby deserves huge credit for his he organised that side of the team.

"Simon Easterby and his section have had a very positive November," Jackman told the RTÉ Rugby podcast.

"While all the plaudits have been going to attack and lineout detail with Paul O'Connell and Mike Catt, this November has been Simon Easterby's time to shine.

"The Wallabies have got powerful athletes, footwork, they've got a very intricate attacking system that Scott Wisemantel implemented, and it's dangerous.

"We never panicked, our discipline was very strong, our tackle technique and selection was excellent, our spacing, everything about our defence was excellent.

"They had a massive focus all week on the attacking breakdown because they respected Ireland - in terms of stats they've the third most turnovers with O'Mahony and Beirne the biggest threats - and they dealt with that really well. The Aussies were wary of how dangerous Ireland were