Jury still out on Irish side
"You're not going to beat England with a performance like that," he said. "We certainly were sub-standard and have a lot of work to do if we are to beat the number one team in the world."
Sunday next is arguably the biggest game in the history of Irish rugby a Grand Slam clash with the auld enemy in front of a partisan home crowd that will carry the hopes of a nation like never before. It's exactly 50 years since Karl Mullen's men carried it off, but that was at Ravenhill.
Perhaps it's just as well the unheralded Welsh put the frighteners on O'Driscoll and company. Now there cannot be the slightest reason for complacency because he has rarely been so right. This was a sub-standard performance and confirms the view I've held ever since Scotland were beaten at Murrayfield the jury is still out on this Irish side and won't finally return a verdict until they confront the biggest hurdle of all on Sunday.
This weak Welsh side had to be beaten decisively to entertain serious hopes of beating the English and little I saw at the Millennium Stadium changed that view. England, again short of their best, put 40 effortless points on Scotland; Ireland needed a last-minute drop goal to pip Wales by a point.
It could have been so different had Ireland not messed up a lineout on the Welsh line six minutes into the second half. They were leading 19-7 at the time and going for the jugular. Instead, Wales broke away and scored under the Irish posts "a 14 points turnover" as the Ireland forwards coach Niall O'Donovan described it.
Even at 19-14, Ireland could have put it out of Wales's reach when Brian O'Driscoll himself felt he had scored a fair try but neither referee Steve Lander nor the video referee Joel Jutge could see whether he had touched down fairly or been held up by Welsh bodies.
"Too many first-up tackles were missed," was one of Eddie O'Sullivan's explanations for the poor quality of his side's display. Defence coach, Mike Ford, lauded for his contribution so far, will want to know why and David Humphreys and Keith Gleeson will be among those under investigation.
Although Ireland made 96 tackles against 44 by the Welsh, that also gives a clear indication of the side enjoying most of the possession. The midweek views expressed by Steve Hansen that Ireland "with the exception of one or two are a team of tradesmen" looked to have more than a hint of truth about it on this occasion.
The set pieces, so good up to now, were a big disappointment. The scrum struggled and there was a certain lack of authority at the lineouts as well. Individually, one couldn't fault Malcolm O'Kelly, again a profound influence in his 50th appearance for Ireland, while Keith Gleeson popped up in the right place to claim his two tries.
However, there was a surprising absence of aggression in the pack, especially in the closing ten minutes when they looked to be out on their feet. To his credit, the fatigue factor was not lost on Eddie O'Sullivan and he commented: "We've taken these warriors into battle so frequently and we've got eight days now to get freshness back into their step and to hit Lansdowne Road running."
Brian O'Driscoll has maintained throughout the campaign that the Scottish game had been their toughest so far but he went even further after Cardiff: "The physicality stakes matched Murrayfield and the match as a whole was probably more draining."
Shane Byrne has been praised to the skies for his lineout play but there's more to a hooker's job than that. Marcus Horan, after his superb performance against France, discovered just tough international rugby can be and even John Hayes wasn't his usual powerful self. It will be fascinating to see where Eddie O'Sullivan turns for his second-row partner to O'Kelly.
The probability is that a fit again Gary Longwell will come back for Leo Cullen but such a move, I fear, will not infuse the fire and devil into a pack that is undoubtedly in need of regeneration. O'Sullivan could do a lot worse than gamble on Paul O'Connell in spite of his recent lack of serious match practice. O'Connell is the kind of character who will be stuck in English faces from the kick-off, something sure to get under the skin of Martin Johnson, to name but one of their haughty pack.
A fit again Victor Costello will probably return for Alan Quinlan who had a fine game in many respects and was the game's top tackler with 13 to his credit along with playing a key role in one of Gleeson's try. But he let himself down again by conceding what might well have been a match winning penalty late in the game. Such indiscipline continues to dog Quinlan in spite of his best efforts to clean up his act.
Geordan Murphy, classy and assured, and O'Driscoll were Ireland's best backs with Denis Hickie and Peter Stringer not far behind. It was always difficult to understand why Justin Bishop was preferred to John Kelly ("horses for courses" was O'Sullivan's bemusing explanation) and remains even more so now.
He was also guilty of an impulsive act that could and indeed should have resulted in a match winning penalty to Wales. If you think I exaggerate, watch the tape again it's as clear a deliberate knock on as you will ever see and might even have merited a yellow card! Ronan O'Gara, Ireland's saviour, admitted that he thought Wales were being awarded a penalty for the incident. As it transpired, though, Steve Lander later maintained that he was signalling for an or ordinary knock forward and when the resultant play didn't end in advantage for Wales, decided against returning to the point of infringement.
This time, Lander erred in favour of Ireland. Munster supporters won't need reminding that he was the touch judge in the Heineken Cup semi-final in Lille in 2001 when he and fellow Englishman Chris White disallowed a perfectly valid try by John O'Neill. White was referee on that occasion; on Saturday, he ran the line and could have intervened in favour of Wales. Luckily for Ireland, his flag stayed down!
Debate is sure to rage over the next few days as to whether Ronan O'Gara should come back for David Humphreys. It's a really, really tough call for Eddie O'Sullivan and he'll earn a large share of his salary if he gets this one right.
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