Conor Murray admits that it wasn't the "real Ireland" that competed in the Six Nations - but insists Joe Schmidt's side will find themselves in time for the World Cup.
The Munster scrum-half has also revealed his frustration at his own form during the championship that saw the defending champs lose to England and Wales - but is adamant it had nothing to do with his long-term neck injury.
"We'll address it when we meet up again, but it's about just moving forward," said Murray. "That wasn’t the real us, that everyone has been used to.
"That was part of the big deal that everyone made out about it - but we have still won 23 of the last 26 tests.
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"Okay, two losses have come in this most recent tournament. It's tough but we will get back there, I'm fully convinced we will.
"It's just frustrating. To park it is – I wouldn’t say it’s easy, but I'm able to do it. We just get on with it."
Murray played his part in Munster's Champions Cup quarter-final win over Edinburgh last Saturday and believes he's back to full fitness.
He said: "Injury wise, I feel great. I heard people say, ‘Was your neck okay?’. Unfortunately my neck had nothing to do with it (the Six Nations).
"I’d like to be able to blame it. The body feels great. Hopefully things will be on an upward curve”.
"The Six Nations was frustrating. There were small margins, that's what this game is built on, (that went against me).
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"I asked myself, 'Why is so much being made about this, why is there such a thing about my form and stuff?'.
"They were tiny things but tiny things are big things in the big picture, if that makes sense. A small, loose pass can kill a whole move, could kill a flow of an attack.
"So I felt better again at the weekend (against Edinburgh).
"I felt energetic, coming back in after a frustrating Six Nations. The lads who didn’t play in the Six Nations, they were just buzzing about European week, they just bought into that.
"They got you going again. It was great to get out there again, to keep going, and they got you believing in your own ability because you have been there."
Murray, 29, admits that he hasn't watched Ireland's loss to Wales in Cardiff in the final championship game yet.
"I played in it and I know enough about how it went, it was just a game of pressure," he sighed.
"Wales went up after one minute and 20 seconds, they went 10-0 up, and I was talking to one of the Welsh lads afterwards and he was saying, 'We didn’t have to play much rugby after that, it was just let you try and play and chase the game'.
"It was just a bad day, a really bad day. I got a break just after it. I parked it.
"I'm used to it at this stage – not those bad days but whether it is a win or loss, just parking it, moving on to the next thing, getting excited about the week ahead.
"That was the beauty about coming back to Munster with that buzz. I just bought into that straight away. It was refreshing to be back".
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