Good reality check may prove a blessing

Six Nations:Three Irish provinces lost to three English clubs at the weekend - Leinster to Gloucester, Munster to Leicester and Connacht to Harlequins, while the fourth, Ulster, also lost in France to Toulouse. If there is a belief then that good or bad omens direct the outcome of Six Nations rugby matches then Irish coach Eddie O'Sullivan might be tempted to burn incense and effigies in his hotel room up on Killiney Hill.

Unlikely. While the Irish coach is canny enough to wear the garlic necklace and rosary beads just in case, his thinking rarely takes anything but a seriously more pragmatic line and perhaps, just perhaps, an Irish team rightly swollen with pride and confidence may benefit from a little deflation. While parking the provincial hats and seamlessly moving into the international environment is all well and good, O'Sullivan can still see the gloom around him but is content to use it to the Irish team's benefit and run with it.

"I think it's a good dose of reality. We often think that when things are going very well we are invincible and it's probably a good shake up for everybody that they realise it doesn't take much for things to go wrong," said the coach yesterday after training.

"I suppose when the lads come into camp after a losing weekend, which is pretty rare, they are down in the dumps over it, so we've got to pick ourselves up this week and get focused on the Six Nations.

"From that point of view it's something to be aware about but it's not going to change the fact that we're playing in Cardiff Sunday week. Normally one or two provinces lose. This weekend all four of them lost and there is a bit of a dull mood in the camp and I suppose the guys are tired as well and there's a few knocks.

"But it is a good wake-up call for everybody in that we can't make any assumptions and maybe had everything gone swimmingly well for the provinces we might have been misguided in thinking that everything is going to happen for us without too much effort.

"I wouldn't like to say it was a good thing they lost but when it happens it is a good reminder that the game of rugby is a very fine line between win and lose."

To compound matters, there is still a run of knocks and strains and bruises in the camp, although O'Sullivan does not seem that concerned. As Shane Horgan, Rob Kearney and John Kelly are all out, only secondrow Malcom O'Kelly gives grounds for real anxiety. His knee continues to give problems.

Scrumhalf Isaac Boss is carrying a shoulder injury, while two of the hookers, Frankie Sheahan and Rory Best, have calf problems. David Wallace is nursing a bruised back and Mick O'Driscoll and Peter Stringer's elbows are still quite sore, so yesterday they stayed out of contact. None of them are major concerns.

"Malcolm (O'Kelly) has a problem with his knee that's dragged on a bit," said O'Sullivan. "He's probably the one they are most concerned about. We'll have to see how he goes this week. He didn't get through much of the game last week and it's been bothering him for a while so he's probably the biggest concern."

Perhaps of more concern is how Leicester bullied the Munster pack in Thomond Park. In the past that was a challenge up there with conquering K2 but the English visitors managed to do it. With most of the Munster team likely to figure for Ireland, perhaps that invincibility myth has also been severely punctured.

"There is no doubt that the Leicester pack dominated Munster," admits O'Sullivan. "It was one 80 minutes where Leicester got it right and Munster didn't get it so right on the day. But you can't read too much into that. Again it's a good reminder.

"While we wouldn't be regarded as the best scrummaging unit in the world, our lineouts have been excellent but again it doesn't take much for it to go off kilter. We are aware of the things we need to fix. They worked well in the autumn and just because they went array over one weekend in the Heineken Cup, there is no need for panic." And as for Irish right wing Horgan and Welsh left wing Shane Williams, both ruled out, well that's an easy one.

"We're missing a Shane and they are as well, so I think that's a good trade off," says the coach.