Listen to the full interview via the podcast.

Such is the disappointment from yesterday's last gasp defeat to the All Blacks, that it would be difficult to claim it as a moral victory.

To pick their way through an ultimately depressing result, we got former Leinster and Ireland players Bernard Jackman and Trevor Hogan to give their take on Ireland's current status after the November Internationals and whether the intensity shown against New Zealand can be replicated in the Six Nations.

"We're the best one off team and can mix it with the world's best. But from Joe Schmidt's point of view, he'll be looking to move the base level up and that's where the All Blacks are," said Jackman.

"I think the way we lost will be a blow to our confidence even though we'll gain satisfaction from the way we played and how close we went.

"You have to imagine, that if we're in tight battles together, that will be lingering at the back of our minds. But I have to be worried that it's not going to have a short-term effect on this group's confidence."

Hogan felt the penalty awarded against Jack McGrath in the dying seconds was very harsh. But in terms of the performance, he saw a whole host of positives especially in the defence which had been decimated by the Wallabies eight days earlier.

"The work-rate, especially to plug the holes on the inside, made a huge difference. Every single time somebody tried to get on the inside, you had Mike Ross and Devin Toner closing things down. New Zealand were struggling to make any sort of clean line break. They couldn't get any momentum," said Hogan who also felt the level of structure, intensity and accuracy of the attack was something never seen in an Irish team before.

Ireland's Devin Toner and Mike Ross tackle Brodie Retallick of New Zealand ©INPHO/James Crombie

But can it be replicated when the Six Nations get underway?

"We had a good game tactically yesterday but a lot of it was built around the mad intensity which is very hard to replicate week in week out. It's hard to get into that emotional state that Ireland would have been in last week. It's very hard to manufacture that underdog status," said Jackman.

"New Zealand have mastered that consistency without needing a kick up the backside. I'm massively confident that Ireland will get better but it's realistic to expect them to play with that intensity every week. But Joe Schmidt and the staff's job is to get them to a certain level."

Main image: Ireland's Cian Healy runs at Richie McCaw of New Zealand ©INPHO/James Crombie