Stuart McCloskey praises Jack Crowley as first senior try sets Ireland up for Six Nations success

Stuart McCloskey says Ireland team are not far away from Six Nations glory after their resounding victory over Italy at the weekend.

McCloskey hailed team mate Jack Crowley's stellar performance in the second round game.

Ireland made it two wins out of two at Dublin's Aviva Stadium on Sunday beating Italy 36-0.

Crowley is growing into the role of number 10 well after Johnny Sexton's departure opening the scores with his first international try in the eighth minute.

Speaking after Sunday's game, Ireland Rugby team mate Stuart McCloskey said: "Johnny leaving has been massive but I thought Jack really stood up well the last couple of weeks.

"The way we want to play hasn't changed. There's wee tweaks here and there.

"When we lost in the World Cup it was heart breaking really.

"We knew we weren't too far away. You don't throw all the toys out of the pram because of one not brilliant performance.

"I think we were just improving what we were doing and I think you've seen some of that come out in the last couple of weeks."

In their next match, Ireland will return to the Aviva playing Wales on Saturday, 24 February.

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