Tadhg Beirne says it is too early to congratulate Ireland just yet, urging them to remain focused ahead of their Six Nations clash with Wales.

Ireland recorded a record win over England when they beat them 42-21 last Saturday, reigniting their bid for glory with a ruthless attacking display.

It was the first time Ireland have beaten England by 20+ points in a men's Test at Twickenham, while they all but ended Steve Borthwick's team's hopes of claiming the trophy.

Having lost their opener to reigning champions France, Ireland bounced back with a nervy win over Italy before their big victory over England.

And Beirne is refusing to dwell on the result, insisting Ireland must look ahead to their game against a struggling Wales on Friday.

"A better performance against Wales is what we'll be chasing," said Beirne.

"You can't just pat yourselves on the back and think it's going to happen again. You have to focus on what went well, bank it, and then also focus on what to improve on.

"There's no point saying that was a good performance, we'll just do it again next week. It doesn't work like that. You have to work incredibly hard to get those performances, and it'll be no different next week.

"We don't want to just put in good performances, we want to get better, and that's the challenge."

Wales have not won a Six Nations match since 2023 and were heartbreakingly denied a victory by Scotland's brilliant turnaround last time out.

Scotland's stunning comeback saw them recover from a 17-5 half-time deficit before clinching a 26-23 victory, but Beirne warned Ireland to be wary of Wales, who are showing signs of improvement.

"Wales, much like us, are improving game on game," he added.

"A lot of the scorelines against the teams they've played against have probably not painted them in the best picture in terms of how well they played in parts of those games.

"They're chasing better 80-minute performances, and they were very close to getting the win against Scotland. I think that performance will give them a lot of confidence coming in against us.

"We'll have a little bit of a focus on Wales, but as I said, our focus is on us getting better each game, and we'll be ready for their improving performances as well."