Irish refuse to get carried away

The privacy of the Ireland dressing-room hid the tears as an emotional Keith Wood and Warren Gatland celebrated an overdue triumph. Wood's track record as Ireland captain had been pedalled before him, each defeat drawing the inevitable question: 10 defeats but now at last a victory, a thoroughly merited one, and something to savour.

The Irish hooker said that the victory "had shaken the monkey from our backs". Warren Gatland must have felt that he was carrying a gorilla at times. Some of the press he received after the England debacle was unedifying in the extreme, personalised bile, and it was interesting to note his demeanour at the post-match press conference.

He refused to smile initially, did not acknowledge any congratulatory words, and when questioned deflected the praise to his players. "It's been a long time coming," he said. "I am delighted for the players, delighted for the supporters. We got a fantastic reception on our way here. Today was our day and while we made mistakes early on we recovered well which was encouraging."

Gatland maintained an air of quiet satisfaction and was content to observe as first Keith Wood and then assistant coach Eddie O'Sullivan and manager Donal Lenihan offered their views. Inevitably question marks remain regarding what his employment status will be at the end of the Six Nations Championship.

What the benchmark will be to earn a new contract is immaterial at this juncture. Italy arrive in Dublin in less than a fortnight's time and Saturday's legacy is that the level of Irish expectation has soared. Wood was keen to address this issue: "We were all bitterly disappointed two weeks ago but what people must not do now is believe that everything in the garden is rosy.

"We have got to be realistic. It is the responsibility of the players and equally of the press to help keep our feet on the ground. It won't do anybody any good to get carried away. We knew we made mistakes at Twickenham and worked hard at rectifying them. There was a great deal of emotion before, during and after the game. I am delighted for everybody. We were due a break and thankfully it came at last."

Gatland was asked about the main difference between Saturday's game and the Twickenham debacle. "People said that we were totally outplayed for the opening 25 minutes but actually after that there was not a lot of difference between the sides. We changed the defensive patterns today and worked hard on closing down Gregor Townsend.

"At half-time I was happy enough with the manner in which we had come back to lead 13-10. I asked for more composure and to try and make sure that we scored first in the second half. We achieved that. Fortunately things went our way and we got the bounce of the ball."

The Irish coach explained his decision to substitute debutant Ronan O'Gara from the fray in favour of David Humphreys, a catalyst for a second Irish wind. "We just felt that Ronan had make a few mistakes. He gave a bit of a Roy of the Rovers performance. He made mistakes but also did some things brilliantly.

"David Humphreys played the corners intelligently when he came on. He was excellent, driving us forward and keeping the momentum going. O'Gara will get better after this experience."

Scottish coach Ian McGeechan was in a sombre mood as he surveyed the wreckage. "We didn't make enough use of good possession. We were in control of the match at 10-0 and then made several bad errors. We needed an early score immediately after half-time but it was Ireland that got it and from there we were chasing the game."