Ireland second row Joe McCarthy insists the squad retain “a lot of belief” despite last week’s crushing Six Nations loss to France.

Andy Farrell’s side’s hopes of reclaiming the title were significantly dented after leaving Stade de France empty-handed following the 36-14 defeat by the holders.

With the pressure to deliver having intensified before Italy’s visit to Dublin on Saturday (14:10 GMT), McCarthy says Ireland are determined to issue an emphatic response to last week’s misery in Paris.

“When you get a big enough loss like that you definitely haven’t done a few things right,” said the Leinster forward, who admitted Ireland were guilty of “compounding errors”.

“It was a tough pill to swallow and it was a big opportunity to start the Six Nations, but you don’t get a second chance.

“It was a tough review but we are focused on getting better. There is still a lot of belief in the group.”

McCarthy was the player of the match in Ireland’s 38-17 win over France in Marseille in 2024, but he has been guilty of ill-discipline in the two meetings since.

During last year’s defeat in Dublin, he was shown a yellow card for what attack coach Andrew Goodman later called a “stupid penalty” when he pulled back Thomas Ramos off the ball, leading to France’s opening try.

Last week, he gifted France a penalty in front of the Irish posts when he barged into Mickael Guillard from the side, allowing the hosts to stretch their lead by three points to 15-0.

“It was a poor penalty from me, definitely avoidable,” said the 24-year-old, who made his British and Irish Lions Test debut last summer.

“They’re the ones you don’t want to give away. I was trying to make an impact or make a tackle and I got the timing wrong and tried to pull out, but it was just a poor penalty and it gave them three points.

“It was something I didn’t want to be doing but it was poor judgement from me. The pressure’s on you and they’re on top of you, you’re trying to stop it but I definitely could have avoided that one.”