While the manner of Ireland’s victory over Italy might help to dampen Grand Slam expectations, Tom O’Toole admits that the final two rounds are “incredibly exciting” for the squad.
Andy Farrell’s side were pushed all the way by the Azzurri, who threatened, for a long spell in the second half, to pull off an incredible upset against the number one team in the world.
A late Mack Hansen try, his second, in addition to five-pointers from James Ryan, Hugo Keenan and Bundee Aki saw Ireland to a 34-20 win that keeps their Guinness Six Nations title hopes on track.
“It’s going to be getting tight in the last couple of weeks,” said O’Toole, who won his seventh cap yesterday.
“[Scotland] have a big game against France (3pm, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player) so we’ll watch that knowing that we’ve got the five points which is huge for us.
“We’ll have a training week next week and we’ll be building towards it but we know going away to Murrayfield is a different challenge.
“They’ve been playing really, really well the last couple of weeks and I’m sure they’ll put in a good performance against France.
“We’ll build as a team, recover, and then drive that focus onto Murrayfield, which we know is going to be a big challenge. It’s incredibly exciting for us.”
O’Toole replaced Finlay Bealham late in the first half after the starting tighthead suffered a knee injury.
His introduction turned the tide in the scrum battle and the Ulster prop took particular pleasure from that victory.
“First off, I’m pretty gutted for Finlay,” said the 24-year-old.
“He’s been playing exceptionally well the last few weeks. When I saw him take a nasty knock to the knee, I really felt for him.
“For me, it meant I was on early and it was a proper Test match, it was a physical game.
“We knew all week the set-piece area was going to be big so I was reasonably happy with how some of those went and it was a physical old game.
“It was high tempo. I’m delighted to get a bit of game time in a proper Test match like that.
“It was physical on both sides. Happy with the win and the team, we’ve stuff to work on, happy to get the win with the lads.
“I’ve been in the system for three or four years and behind the scenes I’ve been working week in, week out, especially with John Fogarty, with Tadhg [Furlong], with Finlay and trying to improve that area of my game. Cian Healy obviously as well who is a loosehead but has played some tighthead for Leinster.
It’s Ireland’s Call, but not as we know it. After an *ahem* interesting down-tempo rendition in Rome the action is underway.
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“Back with my province, working with Dan McFarland as well, it’s something that I’m constantly chipping away at.
“I know I’m 24 now, I’ve had a few years playing at this level and, like most tightheads, it’s something I’ve been working on.
“I’m happy to show a bit of the results of that today, getting a couple of pens was good.
“It’s reassuring for me that I’m going in the right direction because it’s an area of my game that I definitely want to become dominant in.
“As an Irish pack, it’s something we want to go after.
“So pleased, but there’s plenty of work to do and plenty more for me as an individual. It won’t be stopping, I’ll keep chipping away.”
Ireland will have plenty to review in the week ahead but O’Toole was adamant that any away win, with a bonus point, had to be considered as a job well done.
“We knew it would be a challenge,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“A good couple of wins for us to start and then with the week off, it gave them a week to build and Italy is always going to be hard. They bring that passion, a physical challenge.
“We’re delighted to get the win and the bonus-point, which is huge. We wouldn’t have wanted anything less going into the back-end of the competition. Every point matters so we’re delighted in that regard.”
