England and Italy are now the only teams in this years RBS 6 Nations to have failed to chalk up a win, and Kirwan is acutely aware of his teams need for improvement as they prepare to face the World Champions.

But the former All Black winger is confident that his players have a big performance in them, and he believes they will show their true colours against Andy Robinsons men.

The display in Edinburgh was a setback because I thought we had been making big strides, he said.

But now we just have to get on track and I sense the players still have a big performance and win in them.

We hoped we would go to Scotland and make history but we didnt play as well as I would have hoped.

Scotland deserved to win the game but I believe my players will learn from this result and take that into the next one.

We have to keep moving and stay positive and I believe there is a lot of hope for us.
We have to make sure the England and France games are tough for them and I think we can make it hard.

England is the most important one at the moment and they have not been having the best of championships. That is a big one for us and them and I am sure my players will rise to the occasion.