And while disappointed to not be challenging for the title the 2009 IRB coach of the year insists his team is desperate to end the campaign on a high.

"This team isn't blasé about the enormity of winning silverware in any way, shape or form," says Kidney.

"It's a common goal to win silverware whenever we can, to be blasé would be disrespectful to those Irish players who spilt a lot of blood over the years but failed to win a Triple Crown.

"I recognised the importance of the Triple Crown when we won the first one in 2004 because of the long time since we'd won one before then.

"You always set your targets as high as you can in trying to achieve the ultimate, which is the Grand Slam. When you can't achieve that, the next best thing is the championship or the Triple Crown.

"Sometimes goals have to be reassessed mid-season and after we lost to France, we had to do that."