The victory not only secured Italy a spot at the 2019 tournament, but it was also a sign of things to come with McLean - who this season returned to the GUINNESS PRO12 with Treviso - the oldest back at 28.
And he believes it is just consistency that is currently holding the Azzurri back.
"We need to get consistency," McLean said. "We showed one week we can be awful and the next fantastic.
"Getting a World Cup under their belt will help them, and hopefully there will be a lot of boys who will step up and go to a second or a third.
"If we start playing well with the ball in hand, and moving the ball around, and things go well, the coach will give you more leeway and let you play what is in front of you. Today, and against Ireland, we tried to move the ball around and I think we did it reasonably well."
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Guinness PRO12 Benetton News
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