England winger Cadan Murley has detailed what makes Ireland so difficult to play against having found himself under relentless pressure in their recent Six Nations meeting.
Murley scored a try and set up another in England's 27-22 defeat in Dublin but was targeted in the back-field with a number of kicks in behind.
The 25-year-old had a mixed day at the office, notably being dragged into touch after attempting to carry from behind his own try-line in a key moment in the fixture and would repeat the feat later in the fixture, giving Ireland another scoring opportunity.
While Ireland's biggest strength may not be as evident as with some of the world's other top teams, such as South Africa who are renowned for their sheer power.
New Zealand meanwhile, would be famed for their remarkable counter-attacking plays which have proved so fruitful for decades.
Cadan Murley details why Ireland are so hard to beat
While Ireland are strong in a wide variety of areas, Murley believes it is their relentless workrate at the breakdown that makes them such a chore to play against.
Speaking on The Big Jim Show podcast, Murley highlighted Ireland's work without the ball, typically done by the likes of Tadhg Beirne and Josh van der Flier, as a key reason for their success.
"I think their biggest thing would be their mindset of never giving up," he said.
"You look at every breakdown... they make every breakdown an absolute shitfight and as a team over 80 minutes that wears you down.
"You are trying to get an attack and get a nudge on your nine and it causes something. Every breakdown is getting hounded and every tackle they are fighting to blast through or go for a jackal and there is just relentless pressure for 80 minutes.
"That is one of their biggest things, they are all in it together to make it as tough as they can for the opposition."
Murley also pointed to the work of James Lowe, arguably in the form of his career in an Ireland shirt, as a source of inspiration as he looks to reach the levels of the Lions Tour candidate.
'For him it is his confidence to back himself," Murley explained.
"He has a massive left peg but if it goes wrong he says 'doesn't matter I'll do it again'. If he carries, next time he will back himself again.
"That is the thing as a winger, every time you get the ball be confident. If you doubt yourself for a second you are not going to beat your man.
"Watching him, everything he does he is like 'I am going to do what I want here and if it doesn't come off so what?'"
Lowe appears to be ahead of Scotland's Duhan van der Merwe in the race for the number 11 shirt this summer and his trademark left boot could prove key to Andy Farrell's plan when the Lions travel Australia.
