Ireland came out of the blocks full of intent, not only to secure a place in the quarterfinal play-off in Lens on Wednesday night but also to prove that they could play some good football.

The first 15 minutes were very good, primarily because Eric Elwood was taking the ball flat and at pace, and it wasn't long before fears of an upset were quickly dispelled. The Romanians appeared to suffer from stage fright, allowing our runners more space than we have enjoyed thus far in the tournament.

The Irish captain, Dion O'Cuinneagain, in particular capitalised on this and made a number of superb runs. His pace usually takes him away from his forwards and it is vital that our outhalf and centres support him more quickly. If we did, we could capitalise on his breaks a lot more efficiently.

Elsewhere, it will be interesting to see who gets the number 10 shirt on Wednesday. Elwood has certainly put himself back in contention. His is a more commanding physical presence and his place-kicking, with seven out of seven, was excellent. He was unfortunate to take a heavy knock late in the game, but up to that point, apart from the usual moments of hesitation, he had played well.

I don't think there will be any other changes in the back line from the normal selection, as neither of the wingers or centres were any more than competent. They would have had to do more than they did to unseat the incumbents.

Among the forwards, Kieron Dawson did well and depending on injuries he may well feature again.

The Romanian back line saw very little of the ball in the first half, but in the second, against the wind, they made sufficient breaks for questions to be asked. Overall their back line performed reasonably well behind a well-beaten pack.

In Petre Mitu at scrum-half they had one of the best players on the pitch. He will surely be the recipient of a contract to tempt him away from Steaua Bucharest before long.

The Irish forwards were always comfortably in control and the scrum and lineout was far stronger. The Romanians hardly contested any of our throws, whereas we won more and more of theirs as the game progressed. Our rucking was certainly better than the Australian game but is still not as sharp as the top sides. It also seems to need more of our players to secure possession. We will have to be more clinical with our use of second and third phase possession. The longer we retain the ball, the more uncomfortable we tend to become. The opposite should be the case.

Also when we retain possession and have reduced numbers in the back line, we tend to move it too far away from the support instead of bringing it back to the pack.

While we were never in any danger of losing the game, it has to be said, from a strictly critical point of view, that we made a lot of unforced errors. Irish teams in the past have always been guilty of this, but I would have thought that the professional era would have seen an improvement in this area.

The team and management can now concentrate on Wednesday night's game. Although we won't know the opposition until later today, it is likely to be Argentina or Samoa. Both of these teams are beatable, but are also well capable of beating us if we don't perform. I would prefer to see us play against Argentina, who we totally outplayed for 60 minutes a few weeks ago at Lansdowne Road. They will also have one day less recovery time, while Samoa will have a day more, which could be significant.

We will have to be more clinical with our use of second and third phase possession.

Our style of game will also be more effective against the Argentinians. The Samoans are very physical and will be on a high after their victory over Wales in the Millennium Stadium. They played the game at a very high tempo which could present us with problems.

We are likely to be stronger than they are in the set pieces, but, as we saw in the Welsh game, they are content to defend for long periods.

I was glad when all the substitutes were brought on. In fact they probably could have come in earlier. The biggest danger to Ireland at that stage was an injury to a key player, which often happens when games get loose and sloppy, as this one did in the fourth quarter.

The injuries to Elwood and O'Cuinneagain were both examples of this. Hopefully they will have cleared up by Wednesday.

There obviously won't be a huge crowd in Lens, but the support last night was again superb and the players must know that the same will await them on Sunday week in the quarter-final - if they can make it.

In an interview with Johnny Watterson