Sean O'Brien has accused Ireland of lacking maturity after throwing away a famous win against New Zealand, but does believe they can enjoy a successful 2014 Six Nations.
Joe Schmidt's team looked set to end the All Blacks' winning run as they stormed into a 22-7 half-time lead in Sunday's clash in Dublin.
However, New Zealand showed fans who watch live rugby online why they are world champions in the second half. They reduced the deficit to five points before a converted injury-time try gave them a 24-22 victory, their 14th of a perfect year.
"I think it's time the lads grew up and know what's expected when they put on an Irish jersey," said O'Brien.
Last weekend's defeat brought back painful memories of Ireland's 22-19 loss in Christchurch in June 2012. On that occasion, Dan Carter slotted over a last-gasp drop goal to deny Ireland a hard-earned draw.
New Zealand surprised the online betting by claiming a 60-0 victory the following week and Ireland have not enjoyed many days on the field since. They won their first match of the 2013 Six Nations in Wales, only to go on to fail to win any of their next four games.
That is the frustration for O'Brien. Ireland have shown they can mix it with the heavyweights of the world game but have either failed to get the job done or have not backed it up with another good performance in the next match. The Leinster openside wants that to change.
"If we bring that intensity and work rate that we had at the start of the game into the Six Nations, then we'll be in a good place," added O'Brien.
"We've set standards in the past and this is one of those, but we've to make sure we kick on from there and make sure that's there every day in the Six Nations."
