‘It was our worst performance in a very long time’

THERE have been times when Eddie O’Sullivan has been too protective and supportive of his Irish players but not last night. He actually looked diminished in himself; pale and shell shocked as he took on board just how poorly his side had played in beating the unrated Namibians.

“It was our worst performance in a very long time,” he accepted after the 32-17 defeat of Namibia. “There was an enormous amount of unforced errors. Winning the game and getting a bonus point is something I suppose but not an awful lot. I asked the players at half time not to make the mistakes that were creeping into our game but we went on to make even more errors in the second half.

“In terms of the group, I think we’ve just got to focus on winning the next game but the fact is that if we perform like that, we mightn’t come out on the right side of the result against Georgia who are another tough side. We have to come out next week and do the things we’re good at. I never felt we were going to lose the game, it was a case of being more frustrated at the way we were trying to win it.”

Skipper Brian O’Driscoll agreed: “It was an awful display. It’s like a defeated dressing-room in there and we have a massive amount of improvement to find before the next game.

‘‘We showed in the Six Nations that we could play good rugby but we haven’t reproduced it ever since. However, we’re not going to panic yet, we won the game, got five points and bad and all as things are, they could have been worse.”

The captain was wearing a sling to protect a knock he took to his elbow but claimed it looked worse than it was and that he wouldn’t even need an x-ray. Ronan O’Gara left late on with a bruised foot and was limping badly a half hour or so after the final whistle. It will be this morning at the earliest before there’s an account of his situation. Marcus Horan damaged his ribs but O’Sullivan acknowledged that “their egos are more bruised than their bodies”.

Pack leader Paul O’Connell said: “We’re not worried about how Argentina or any other team are playing. When we start finding our own form, then we can start worrying about other teams. It’s all about us at the moment and finding our game form. We need to start doing the simple things well and the things that unlock a very good defence will come after that.”

The Namibians, of course, were thrilled by their performance with their captain Kees Lensing claiming: “We came into this game to play winning rugby and there was a time in the second half when we thought it could happen, we were the better side when the score was 27-17.

‘‘We didn’t think the last Irish try should have been awarded but we’re not going to moan about that.

‘‘The crowd were fantastic and it was like we were playing at home. When you run out there and see a full house, you get goose-bumps on the back of your neck.”