O’Sullivan Happy Enough With Irish Performance.

Ireland can travel to take on world
champions England with an extra lift in their step after thrashing Wales 36-15 at Lansdowne Road here on Sunday, claimed coach Eddie O’Sullivan.

The 45-year-old was delighted to see his side score six tries in a
match
that was seen as the tipping point to see whether Ireland had been
replaced as
the coming power in northern hemisphere rugby by their opponents.

“It was a good performance for 60 minutes but sloppy for the last 20,” said
the 45-year-old.
“We had had to make some changes which unsettled us but
overall I am very
happy.

“If we’d lost it would have been a setback but we’ve got some
momentum
going to Twickenham. Hopefully we’ll get another six tries against England!”
joked O’Sullivan.

For his Welsh counterpart Steve Hansen it was a cold dose of
reality
following yet more headlines about a new Welsh renaissance after
years in the
doldrums on the back of impressive showings against the All Blacks
and England
at the World Cup and then victory over the Scots last Saturday.

“Ireland’s a good side and we saw that today,” said the
44-year-old former
New Zealand police detective.
“It was a young side trying to break into the top echelon and
an older side
that has been under pressure and could cope with it.

“I’m sure we can come back stronger for it. The Triple Crown
is a nice
thought but you have to take each game as it comes. We are
disappointed,”
added Hansen, who is due to leave the post at the end of the campaign
and join
up with his predecessor in the job and now All Blacks coach Graham
Henry.

Hansen, though, was stoical in defeat despite seeing his dreams
shattered
of landing the Grand Slam in his farewell season.
“No point being black about it, just got to cop the loss in
the chin,” said
Hansen.
“There is no point sulking about it.
We made too many mistakes with the ball. Got cleaned out in
the lineouts,
didn’t make first time tackles and ran sideways instead of forwards
so I guess
we’ll work on that for the next fortnight ahead of the French match
in Cardiff
on March 7.”

Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll was very satisfied with the
outcome and by
the fact he scored two tries on his return to the side after missing
the
opening 35-17 defeat by France with a right hamstring injury.
“It is good to be back and it was great to get off to a
fantastic start. We put up a great performance for 75 minutes and to score 36
points
against a Welsh side that has looked so good is unbelievable.

“The tries are a bonus.
I don’t know how I managed to outflank Gareth Thomas as my
hamstring was
tightening up a bit and wanted to come off.

“It was hugely important to win – there was a lot to be said
about it being
make or break for our Six Nations. Now we can go over to Twickenham
with some
confidence,” said the 25-year-old centre, whose two tries took
him to 23 in
his career and second on the all-time list of Irish tryscorers.

Wales skipper Martyn Williams, who replaced the injured Colin
Charvis as
captain, said that it had been uphill all the way from the moment
Byrne scored
the first try but added that they would rebound against the French on
March 7.
“Of course we can raise our game for the French as we’ve been
through a lot
together.

“We knew as a side we weren’t a finished article but it takes
time to get
there and yes its a setback.”

Ireland:
Girvan Dempsey (Leinster); Shane Horgan (Leinster), Gordon D’Arcy
(Leinster), Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster, capt), Tyrone Howe (Ulster);
Ronan
O’Gara (Munster), Peter Stringer (Munster); Anthony Foley (Munster),
Keith
Gleeson (Leinster), Simon Easterby (Llanelli/WAL); Paul O’Connell
(Munster),
Donncha O’Callaghan (Munster); John Hayes (Munster), Shane Byrne
(Leinster),
Reggie Corrigan (Leinster)
Replacements: Malcolm O’Kelly (Leinster) for O’Callaghan, 36 mins; Kevin Maggs
(Bath/ENG) for D’Arcy, 57 mins; Frank
Sheahan (Munster) for Byrne, 65 mins; Guy Easterby (Rotherham/ENG) for Stringer, 78 mins; David Humphreys
(Ulster) for O’Driscoll, 78 mins;
Simon Best (Ulster) for Corrigan, 80 mins; Victor Costello (Leinster) for Foley, 80 mins.

Wales:
Gareth Thomas (Celtic Warriors); Rhys Williams (Cardiff), Sonny
Parker
(Celtic Warriors), Iestyn Harris (Cardiff), Shane Williams
(Neath-Swansea);
Stephen Jones (Llanelli), Gareth Cooper (Celtic Warriors); Dafydd
Jones
(Llanelli), Martyn Williams (Cardiff, capt), Jonathan Thomas
(Neath-Swansea);
Robert Sidoli (Celtic Warriors), Brent Cockbain (Celtic Warriors);
Adam Jones
(Neath-Swansea), Robin McBryde (Llanelli), Iestyn Thomas (Llanelli)
Replacements;: Gethin Jenkins (Celtic Warriors) for A Jones; Michael Owen
(Dragons) for R Sidoly; Tom Shanklin (Cardiff) for S Parker; Alix Popham (Leeds/ENG) for J Thomas; Ceri
Sweeney
(Celtic Warriors) for I Harris; D Pel for G Cooper.