There is still a “good chance” that Ireland will come second in the Six Nations this year, former international Gordon D'Arcy has predicted. 

On Saturday, France comfortably beat the Boys In Green 45 to 27 at the Aviva Stadium. 

The result was particularly gutting for fans given Ireland’s consistently strong performance in recent years.  

“Realistically, it was a disappointing result and performance,” Mr D'Arcy told The Hard Shoulder. 

“I think the manner of the defeat is the bit that has startled most people. 

“Suddenly, everybody’s looking into the minutiae of the details of it.” 

Despite this, Mr D'Arcy said there is “no point crying over spilt milk”. 

“We were missing a couple of players and you’re always trying to find a balance in the context around it,” he said. 

“We had injuries going into it; then, when you step back from it, you can go, ‘There was always a potential for this to happen with Ireland.’ 

“We don’t have the same player profile or number of teams that, say, France and England have. 

“England have 10 professional teams and France have two professional leagues.” 

Mr D'Arcy added that there are “limitations to an Irish system” and there is only a “small number of kids available for each sport”. 

“What’s disappointing for me as an ex-player and someone who is a rugby fan is there’s no middle ground,” he said. 

“It’s either unparalleled success or nothing. Where is the happy middle ground?” 

“There’s still a good chance that we’ll finish second in the Six Nations with a good performance in Italy. 

“One bad game doesn’t turn a group into a bad team overnight. 

“I think there will probably be now an opportunity to freshen up the squad.” 

Ireland are the favourites to win their clash with Italy on Saturday.

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Main image: Irish players at the Aviva. Picture by:  Action Plus Sports Images/Alamy Live News Credit: Action Plus Sports Images/Alamy Live News