ON RUGBY: Ireland's win over Scotland at Lansdowne Road last Saturday was very welcome and vitally important not alone in the context of the Six Nations Championship but for the team's confidence and its development.
There were two factors at play. After the disappointment of Twickenham the team needed to win. The second was that the Irish side was facing the country that had outplayed and out-thought them so comprehensively at Murrayfield last September, 32-10.
Ireland's primary requirement last Saturday was a win and it was attained. It is far easier to build from success than it is from failure. Ireland has had every reason to appreciate the truth of that.
If the match last Saturday had been of a higher standard and Ireland had lost, the road and difficulties ahead would be far greater and confidence lower. That is just one reason why the win was so important.
It also leaves Ireland back in the championship race. In addition, the level of performance was such that there most certainly is no room for any complacency and clear indication to the management that improvement is needed.
It was not a match marked by quality in many areas. Yet even by the standards of this era when scorelines bear no comparison with the recent past, a 21-point winning margin is still very comprehensive. And a return of five tries is a testimony to Ireland's attacking capacity, the individual brilliance of Brian O'Driscoll - I will return to that outstanding feat and try to put into historical perspective - and the ability to exploit Scotland's defensive frailties.
Ireland had been on the receiving end a fortnight previously when England exploited Irish weakness in this area. Ireland certainly presented a much tighter defensive screen last Saturday. Once again Denis Hickie excelled as did Peter Stringer, the best passer of the ball I have seen in the Ireland number nine jersey.
There were areas of the performance that were unsatisfactory.
Foremost in this respect was the lineout. Hooker Frankie Sheahan did not have a happy afternoon and was called off after 35 minutes. But it would be grossly unfair to lay the blame entirely on Sheahan. What happened after his departure hardly coincided with a rapid improvement. Sheahan is a good player as he has proved for Munster and indeed for Ireland when called on. The lineout jumpers must take some responsibility for the problems and the "wisdom" of some of the lineout calls was hard to fathom. Sheahan deserves to be in the Ireland 22 for the match against Italy bearing in mind all the circumstances.
But the lineout is an area on which the Ireland coaches must work and the composition of the second and back rows will surely occupy the deliberations of the Ireland management.
What happened in Paris on Saturday last underlined yet again the glorious uncertainty that can and has so often been an integral part of this great championship. I have no doubt that England would have settled for a win whatever about the quality, or lack of, by which it had been attained. No country has performed the grand slam since the Five Nations series became the Six Nations Championship three years ago. The last grand slam that England attained was eight years ago. The French have had two since then, in 1997 and 1998.
As we have seen in recent times the England team playing at Twickenham is a very formidable force, England playing away from Twickenham are vulnerable. England last lost in the championship at Twickenham in 1997 - to France - but in the interim England have lost to France in Paris (twice), to Wales in Wembley, to Scotland at Murrayfield and to Ireland at Lansdowne Road.
Meanwhile, Lansdowne Road is proving to be extremely beneficial to Ireland in recent times. The Ireland team has now beaten all five nations on their last visits. Italy and Scotland in 2000, France and England in 2001 and Wales and Scotland 2002. In fact Ireland has lost just once in Dublin over the last three seasons in the championship, to Wales in 2000, 23-19, after that year beating Scotland and Italy in Dublin. That is a record in sharp and welcome contrast to the home record of the 1990s.
To revert to Brian O'Driscoll's three-try achievement. He is the first Irishman in the history of the championship to have scored three tries twice. He got the hat-trick in Paris two years ago. He is also the first Irish player to score three tries in a championship match in Dublin. That surely puts the measure of his achievement into its proper perspective. In well over 100 years only six Irishmen have scored three tries in a championship match.
O'Driscoll was the third Irishman to score three tries against the Scots.
Eugene Davy did it first on February 22nd, 1930, at Murrayfield when Ireland won 14-11. Incidentally Davy's three tries were scored in the space of 20 minutes. Seamus Byrne scored three against the Scots at Murrayfield on February 28th, 1953, when Ireland won 28-6.
The first to achieve the three-try feat was Robert Montgomery who did it against Wales in Birkenhead on March 12th, 1887. That afternoon Ireland lost the match by three tries to a dropped goal and a try. Under current scoring values Ireland would have won that match 15-8. The next to achieve the feat was Joseph Quinn against France in Cork on March 24th, 1913, in a 24-0 win. The sixth man to score three tries in a championship match for Ireland was Rob Henderson against Italy in Rome last season.
Both Keith Wood and Brian Robinson have scored four tries in a match. Robinson, in a World Cup match against Zimbabwe in 1991 and Wood against the USA, also in a World Cup match in 1999. Five other Irishmen have scored three tries in internationals but not in the championship. They were Keith Crossan (v Romania, Dublin 1986); Brendan Mullin (v Tonga, Brisbane 1887); Matt Mostyn (v Argentina, Dublin 1999); Mike Mullins (v USA, New Hampshire 2000); Denis Hickie (v Japan, Dublin 2000). But O'Driscoll stands apart with his double hat-trick.
