With Aoibheann Reilly, 24, linking well with the 21-year-old pair of O'Brien and Dalton, Ireland have a youthful nine-10-12 axis.

"They're inexperienced but there's skill and talent," added Downey.

"They're malleable and they can be coached.

"There's leadership and there's great depth from those young players."

Ireland are next in action against England in Cork on 12 April before finishing their campaign with trips to Wales and Scotland.

Sitting third in the standings after the big win in Parma, Ireland will hope to finish strongly before turning their attention to the World Cup which starts in August.

Ireland, who failed to qualify for the last World Cup, will be in a pool with Spain, Japan and New Zealand at the tournament in England.

"You have to look at areas that don't go right for you and when you right the wrongs, that's how you grow," concluded Peat.

"The growth from last week to this week, they're the key moments that will extract the potential from this team.

"Hopefully they'll kick on the rest of the tournament and then the bigger picture is the World Cup."