Ireland remain on course for a first Grand Slam since 1948 after dispatching England in a brutal encounter at Croke Park.

But the scoreline failed to reflect their superiority and Kidney insists his side were hamstrung by slow ball.

"We showed good resilience and pressure throughout and that is improving," he added.

"The forwards brought huge energy to the pitch, guys like Paul O'Connell hit so many rucks.

"But we didn't get enough quick ball and the gaps just weren't appearing."

Ireland now travel to Scotland for their penultimate match as favourites to win the Six Nations title, but Kidney still believes his side are punching above their weight.

"The view that we would beat England heavily never came from us," said the former Munster coach.

"There is never a bad England team, especially when their backs are against the wall like they were when they played us.

"They were extremely difficult to break down and we had to put our all into it.

"We're an okay team. We have four professional teams, England have 12 and they have a semi-professional league below that.

"We came away with a one-point win in a venue that is very important to us. It was important to win both games against them here.

"There's a lot of experience in our team. They have been down different roads in the past but we know there's no one like Scotland to disturb a party."