Tadhg Beirne: Ireland still chasing 80-minute performance

Tadhg Beirne has warned that Ireland aren't content with their start to the Guinnsss Six Nations, despite a perfect two bonus-point victories from their two games so far.

The defending champions are already favourites to make it back-to-back Grand Slam titles following their emphatic wins against both France and Italy.

But ahead of welcoming Wales to the Aviva Stadium tomorrow, second row Tadhg Beirne says they're still not happy with their haul so far.

"We've shown what we can do in some of those games for periods, but it certainly hasn't been for 80 minutes," the Munster lock told RTÉ Sport this week.

"I think that's something we're always chasing and are always after, that 80-minute performance, We're always looking to improve.

"When you lose, you always say we'll learn from it, but when we win we want to learn as much as we can from the games and see where we can improve, even from those wins."

Despite predictions that Ireland would suffer a World Cup hangover, they've looked a step ahead of the rest in the opening games of the championship.

And Beirne (below), who returns to the side this week after being rested for the win over Italy, says their fast start is a reflection on the standards being set behind the scenes.

"That's just a credit to the coaching staff in here, and the management, with the mindset they've given us, in terms of breaking down every part of the game. Even when it goes well, seeing what part of it actually didn't go well, and trying to improve on that.

"There's a lot of games that to people outside, they might not pick on, but we're picking up on every single detail we can to try and improve pour performances each game.

"Everyone in here is hard on themselves. You want to improve yourself but you want to