O’Sullivan keen to enjoy the moment

EDDIE O’Sullivan must feel like he has created a monster. No sooner had his backside found his seat for the post-match press conference than he was fielding questions about Ireland’s chances of winning the Six Nations and taking on the world in France next autumn.

“Can we talk about the autumn internationals first?” asked O’Sullivan who was understandably eager to dwell on the exceptional performances of the last three weeks.

“I’m happy with the autumn internationals, on the basis that we put in three good performances and on the basis that we tried to build our squad. We got as much from them as we could.

“We started 26 players in the three matches and brought in more as replacements and that’s a good return. We have lots of stuff in the bank to build on as we go forward.”

Not only has the depth of the squad been strengthened in terms of numbers, it has also been added to in terms of versatility with Isaac Boss’ superb cameo on the right wing yesterday perhaps the most obvious example.

Given all the musical chairs, O’Sullivan professed himself more than satisfied with yesterday’s run-out despite the obvious misgivings over his team’s tendency to engage in Barbarians rugby at times against an unpredictable opposition.

“I know it was a bit messy at times, but we knew it was going to be like that at times against the Pacific Islanders. It is hard to be as cohesive as you would like with nine changes (from last week) and Paddy Wallace was virtually a new cap.”

Some may have had reservations about the Ulster man’s display at out-half but Irish captain Brian O’Driscoll was effusive in his praise of the 27-year old who kicked nine of 11 attempts on goal and made an equally impressive contribution from open play. “Sometimes it’s easy to play against sides that know their structures much better than the Islanders. At times I don’t think even they knew what they were doing in defence,” said O’Driscoll. “He took the ball into contact at times, kicked almost immaculately. I’d say he’s very pleased with himself.”

Just as pleasing for O’Sullivan will be the fact that Ireland came through the game against such heavy hitting opponents relatively unscathed, although Girvan Dempsey lost consciousness for a few seconds after a ferocious hit from Seru Rabeni in the first half.

Ireland weren’t found wanting in the physical stakes either with the three new caps – Luke Fitzgerald, Jamie Heaslip and Stephen Ferris – playing their part in both the defensive and offensive sectors.

“Luke Fitzgerald did very well,” said the Irish coach. “He was playing against some fast footballers and, when you’re on your own in open spaces, it can be a bit daunting. If I’m being super-critical I would say that he could have backed himself a bit more with the ball. One time he pinned his ears back and took them by surprise but it’s important to remember how far he has come. Last year I was watching him play a schools match in Athlone.

“The two guys in the back row did very well. It was a bruising big test to make your debut there. They dug in well, gained some hard yards and defended very well. Top marks for both performances.”

When he did discuss the World Cup, O’Sullivan was committing himself no further than the pool stage.

“The most important thing for us is getting out of the group. You don’t want to miss that boat and I know France feel the same. The immediate focus for me now is the Wales game in Cardiff next February. Everyone knows how tough that one is.”

After that Croke Park beckons and it was only when O’Sullivan descended from the team bus on arrival at Lansdowne Road yesterday that the impending destruction of the old ground actually hit home for him.

“There’s a guy at the gate there who shakes everybody’s hand as they go in who said to me ‘this is the last time I’ll be doing this with you here’ that it registered with me. It was a great way to finish things here, but we have lots of stuff to work on. I don’t think anything is badly broken, but nothing is perfect either.”