British and Irish Lions

The Italians failed to repeat their victory over Wales on the opening weekend of the 2003 RBS 6 Nations but despite his disappointment, Kirwan was full of praise for the impressive Irish.

"The Irish have to be happy with their game," he said. "Their Six Nations is on track."

The Italians, who lost record points-scorer Diego Dominguez with a knee injury early in the second half, caused plenty of problems early on for the visitors and at least they managed to breach the Ireland defence for the first time in the championship.

"We probably needed to take a few more risks," admitted Kirwan. "Ireland shut us down in the line-outs and we lacked patience. We needed to have the confidence to hang onto the ball and work our phases.

"We should have taken our chances. We nearly scored three times and we needed to put them away."

British & Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton says he's been struck by the level of professionalism and dedication within the squad as they prepare to head to Hong Kong and Australia.

Alex Cuthbert admits the prospect of touring with The British & Irish Lions seemed like a distant dream when the squad were preparing for their most recent adventure four years ago.

Lions skipper Sam Warburton says the lessons he and his Welsh colleagues learnt in Australia last summer will stand them in good stead for their return visit with Britain and Ireland's elite next month.