Eddie O’Sullivan has said Declan Kidney cannot expect the injury crisis that has affected his squad to be taken into account when his Six Nations is judged.

The former Ireland boss spoke sympathetically of the plight his successor now finds himself in, advising that even with the long injury list of key players being a genuine factor in Ireland's poor Six Nations season those factors won’t be accepted by the media and rugby public.

“The strange thing about it is people just look at the result at the end of the day.

 “People just look at the result and that’s what they want no matter what the circumstances are.”

O’Sullivan told Newstalk Breakfast he thought Paddy Jackson played a solid game on his debut, his goal kicking aside.

“Paddy Jackson…didn’t have a bad game as a number ten. He did pretty well. He didn’t set the world on fire but we didn’t expect him to do that. But I suppose the missed kicks at goal were probably the big bugbear.”

O’Sullivan’s final campaign as Ireland coach was the 2008 Six Nations, which Ireland finished with just two wins and three defeats. He faced growing criticism of his management of the team in the final weeks of his tenure and can empathise with the pressure Kidney will be feeling now.

 “It’s tough going, you know? There’s a bit of soul searching that goes on and it’s tough times.”