Monday 19 March 2018 07:52, UK
Warren Gatland has acknowledged Ireland are currently the best team in the northern hemisphere after their Six Nations triumph.
A 24-15 victory over England at Twickenham on Saturday secured Ireland their third ever Grand Slam title.
Gatland declared himself "pretty satisfied" after a 14-13 win against France secured a second-place finish for Wales, and admitted Ireland were worthy champions.
"The thing with Ireland is that they've got a very structured approach to the way that they play," Gatland said.
"They are a tough team to get the ball off, and it's hard to break down at the moment.
"You've got to stay in that arm wrestle with Ireland, but credit to them because they have done exceptionally well and congratulations to Joe [head coach Joe Schmidt] and the team for winning the Grand Slam.
"It's a tough competition to win, and you need a bit of luck. They've had that and will be aware of that.
"In fairness, they are the best team in the northern hemisphere at the moment."
Attention will soon switch to the summer Tests against South Africa and Argentina with Gatland set to rest a number of players, including captain Alun Wyn Jones, for those games in Washington DC and South America.
"We will look at the summer tour and how that goes," Gatland added.
"In the past, we have always tried to take as strong a squad as we possibly can, so this is the first time we will have left a number of players behind or taken some youngsters and less experienced players, apart from when it's been Lions years.
"We've got to plan for what we want to do in the autumn [next season] in terms of using that as a real conditioning and a skill-development phase, when we will probably do a little less rugby.
"That's the starting point for building up for 2019, and things are being talked about with planning and detail at the moment.
"What we will do in the autumn is different, and then we will go out to try and win the [2019] Six Nations because that's important and there is a lot at stake."
