Heaslip: we won’t fall for the hype

JAMIE HEASLIP insists Ireland won’t be undone by Grand Slam hype as they prepare for their trip to Scotland later this month.

Declan Kidney’s men are the only side with a perfect record in this Six Nations Championship after France’s victory over Wales on Friday night but Heaslip is adamant that title talk wouldn’t deflect them from their Murrayfield mission on March 14.

Said the Leinster man: “We will only focus on the next game against Scotland. We haven’t thought about and won’t talk about Wales (Ireland’s final game).

“Last time in Scotland we were fortunate to get a win, it’s a tough place to play in and they will be boosted by a very good win over Italy. It’s one game at a time; we’re not there yet. It’s pressure, but that’s what the game is all about.

Saturday’s narrow win over England was one of the most physically punishing games of the season and Heaslip predicts another bruiser in Edinburgh,.

“They’re a pretty formidable side. I expect more of the same that we got from England. It gets harder as you go on, defences become more important and you don’t get much room these days.”

Many pundits will expect a much improved performance from Ronan O’Gara who failed to reach his usual stellar heights at Croke Park.

However Heaslip launched an impassioned defence of the outhalf.

He thundered: “We can’t always expect him to do the business; there have been so many times when he slotted over vital kicks that you surely couldn’t hold a few missed penalties against him.

“I though his kicking out of hand was outstanding; he pinned them back on several occasions and it was great for a forward to get up and see the ball in their half, to make them play out of defence.

“Overall, I thought he had a great game from our (forwards) perspective.”

Heaslip’s back row colleague David Wallace was another to downplay talk of Triple Crowns and championship honours.

He reasoned: “We have a few areas to work on, we’re not the finished article. We have plenty to improve upon, but our set piece stuff was pretty solid throughout.”

He wasn’t surprised that it was a game dominated by defences.

“When you play against England , you’ve always got to expect it will be a tough match. The last couple of games suggested it would be lots of points, but I always felt it would come down to the wire. We were under no illusions about how hard it was going to be; every yard was a hard yard gained.

“We’re just delighted to get the win; the scoreline was probably a fair reflection of the way the game went, because there weren’t too many line breaks and not many opportunities on either side.”

Other than the concession of the late, late Delon Armitage, Wallace was happy with defence’s day’s work.

“I thought we defended really well throughout; it was all about backing ourselves, never more so than in those last couple of minutes; if we didn’t defend then, if they had got up a head of steam, which they nearly did, we could have been in a bit of trouble.

“Denis Leamy’s tackle in the last few seconds was huge for us; the timing was great, and it’s fantastic to have a squad where we have strength in depth to call upon.”

Another who put his body on the line time and again was captain Brian O’Driscoll and Wallace noted: “He was at the toughest end of it; he got a few clatters, but it was real testimony to his character to stick it out and continue to play.”