Simon Easterby praised Ireland’s mentality for “digging ourselves out of a hole” to overcome Wales in the Six Nations and keep their Grand Slam dream alive.
Despite only taking a handful of training sessions since his appointment, Sherratt – who again stressed he had no interest in doing the job full-time – implemented a clear and cohesive game plan, far detached from anything Wales had produced in losing to France and Italy.
But, having lost centre Garry Ringrose to a 20-minute red card midway through the second quarter, Ireland found themselves 18-10 adrift before rallying in the closing stages to triumph 27-18 and win an eighth Triple Crown in the Six Nations era.
It remains to be seen whether Ringrose will be available for the Stadio Olimpico clash after making head-on-head contact with Wales centre Ben Thomas, with Easterby insisting the sanction “could have been yellow”.
“I’m pleased with the result because we go down a man and then we go down on the scoreboard,” said interim Ireland boss Easterby.
