Caelan Doris expects a determined Ireland to bounce back after All Blacks disappointment
Losing to New Zealand hasn't sat well with the squad: "Off the back of a loss like that, there’s obviously a lot of frustration and disappointment."
Ireland skipper Caelan Doris reckons there was an edge to training all this week, Irish pride was definitely dented last Friday night.
Don't take it a matter of poor discipline or a high missed tackle count, there was a feeling of hurt about losing their 19 game unbeaten home run and frustration that it came against the team they see as their biggest rivals, the All Blacks.
The sight of Reiko Ioane leading the haka was accepted as deliberate provocation on the back of his feud with Johnny Sexton, the sight of him smirking afterwards didn't go down well.
READ MORE: Ireland v New Zealand: Player ratings as hosts outplayed at Aviva Stadium
Says Doris: “Off the back of a loss like that, there’s obviously a lot of frustration and disappointment and it definitely dictates the mood personally but also amongst the group for a couple of days.
"We kind of felt that linger a little bit on Sunday and Monday which is natural given what it means for this team and for us as individuals to represent the country.
“I think a bit of that is natural but we turned the page pretty well on Sunday evening and Monday and we had a good training week with some very good sessions in there. Today went well as well so the mood is good now, there’s a lot of excitement about tomorrow.
The squad had addressed discipline as a matter of urgency, last week's 13-5 penalty count is a cause for worry.
“I think so. Discipline for this team has been a strength. I think we average around 10 penalties or less. We were up at 13 and they came at crucial moments in the game.
"We’d five in a row after we’d scored in the second half and they kicked nine points from that and as we were getting momentum back it completely turned back towards them.
“When you are playing on the edge, you are always going to give away a few but a lot of them were avoidable ones so there was disappointment around that.
"But there was also a feeling that there’s more in us, in terms of intent and making it happen a little bit as individuals.
"I definitely felt that myself, there’s more in me and I was a little bit disappointed with the lack of impact in the game and not as many involvements as I would have liked and I know a few guys who were like that and we’ve another chance tomorrow.
Argentina are a steam on the rise, their last three results featured a 29-28 home win over the world champion Springboks (Sept 21), an away 48-7 loss to the 'Boks (Sept 28) and a 50-18 win over Italy (Nov 9).
“We know that Argentina are a proper team and a proper Test and they’ve shown that with some of their wins over the year and their development under Felipe.
"They’ve obviously been a top-class team for the last number of years, being in three of the last four World Cup semi-finals.
"But I think they’ve gone up to another level under Felipe so we’re definitely aware that it’s going to be a big challenge but there’s also excitement at being back in the Aviva to get back to ourselves because we felt we weren’t ourselves last Friday."
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