PAUL O’Connell says that reigning Six Nations champions Ireland are focused on preparations for the Italy opener on Saturday week, rather than being hailed favourites ahead of the tournament.
The Ireland rugby captain was speaking at the RBS Six Nations press launch on Wednesday morning at The Hurlingham Club, London, ahead of the team’s first game on February 7 at the Stadio Olimpic in Rome.
Joe Schmidt’s side begin their title defence as likely favourites, but O’Connell insists that the label is not something that the team are relying on.
“We’re preparing for Italy, that avoids the distractions, we’re not looking at the bigger picture,” O’Connell said.
Ireland’s preparations for the 2015 Six Nations campaign will be without veteran Brian O’Driscoll, following his retirement last summer.
Despite the loss of the former international captain, O’Connell said that Ireland have taken confidence from the successful Autumn fixtures against South Africa and Australia, although there are still improvements to be made.
“November was great for us, we took those two big scabs as we did,” he added.
“We were disappointed with the way we finished the South Africa game, but with Australia we managed to close the game out.
“There were a lot of things to work on, we built a healthy lead against Australia but let it slip through defensive lapses. We’ve heard a lot about those since and we’re looking to rectify those.”
At the press launch the new RBS Six Nations trophy was unveiled.
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