Battered and Bruised, Ireland need to 'get back on the horse' © Getty Images

Tony Ward believes that the halfback duo of Eoin Reddan and Jonathan Sexton are banging on the door of Ireland boss Decland Kidney in The Irish Independent.

"If there was one of Eddie O'Sullivan's frequently quoted expressions I used to loathe, it was the one following defeat - which, to be fair, wasn't that often - about getting back up on the horse. "The head coach would say it in flash interviews post-match. And then his players and back-up staff would repeat it ad nauseam.Well, if the performance in Paris took us back to dim times past, then I must take a leaf out of O'Sullivan's book and state that it is, indeed, time to get back on the horse. "There is no other option. A good team did not become bad on the back of one under-par performance, but, nonetheless, a winning team has had its confidence severely dented by Saturday's French fall."