Rob Kearney wants Ireland to finish Six Nations on a high

Rob Kearney wants Ireland to maintain their focus and finish the Six Nations strongly despite relinquishing the title on Saturday.

Ireland lost their grip on the crown after losing 21-10 to England at Twickenham, following the 16-16 draw with Wales and 10-9 loss to France in Paris.

Joe Schmidt's side will close their campaign by hosting Italy and Scotland, and full-back Kearney is keen to salvage some pride with two morale-boosting victories.

"To be honest I think we still had a little bit of hope on Saturday that in the back of our heads that results could have gone our way and we could have been right back in it," said Kearney.

"But we're out of the championship now, we just need to make sure we finish really strongly and round off in mid-table.

"It is frustrating and of course you want results now. But you can't always be riding the crest of a wave.

"There are times of transition and perhaps we are in one of those now.

"But at the same time we need to make sure we're not making any excuses and the team that goes out are doing as best they can.

"I think we played quite well at times and if we took some of those opportunities it could have been a very different scoreboard.

"It's absolutely imperative that we finish off the tournament with two home wins now."