Outhalf plays it modestly

David Humphreys would probably colour in embarrassment as the kudos reigned down on Ireland's outhalf. A modest soul, he was content to deflect the bouquets elsewhere on a day when he kicked 22 points, a record for an Ireland-Wales clash eclipsing Neil Jenkins (20).

He also demonstrated his largesse in a more tangible manner, giving away the champagne that he received after being voted man-of-the-match.

Brian O'Driscoll was the lucky recipient, and he laughed: "I love it when Humphs wins these awards because his team-mates can enjoy his success."

Humphreys controlled the game majestically, punting prodigiously and looking sharp and incisive in exploiting the space afforded by the Welsh. He guaranteed that Ireland dominated the match and also kept the scoreboard ticking over nicely with six successful penalties from as many attempts.

"As I have said many times before, the outhalf is only as good as his pack and they (the Irish forwards) were absolutely superb. The pack made it very easy for us to use the elements in the first half. Everything worked out well and we managed to keep the Welsh pinned back."

He did feel sympathy for his opponents in the aftermath, pointing out that an Ireland team of a few years ago would have empathised with the visitors' plight.

"They're not going very well at the moment, they lack confidence. I remember three or four years ago that when one or two things go against you, you think 'here we go again'.

"Everything piles up mentally and every little bounce of the ball seems to favour your opponents. It's very hard to shake that feeling.

"However, we have to look at it as a plus point for the Ireland team that we didn't give them any opportunity to get back into the game and that's pleasing. We won every 50/50 ball, and once that starts to happen you know that the team is going to go well.

"We have worked hard and that was evident in the game."

On a personal level, the Ulster outhalf was a little disappointed with some aspects of his game. "I wasn't happy with the accuracy of execution at times. I missed one or two passes and against England you certainly couldn't afford to do that. They defended differently to what we expected, so that probably changed the way we played."

Humphreys conceded that when he strolled down to the pitch for a little place-kicking practice on the morning of the match, he left feeling a little perturbed. "I came out to kick this morning and what I normally do is kick 18 at each end.

"After three I went, I can't do this, so psychologically it wasn't a great start. Instead of using my tee, I used sand and have never really kicked off sand before. It was coming off nicely and I'm certainly not going to complain about it at this stage.

"The wind helped me today, because there was one or two that weren't going over until the wind took them back between the posts."

So what went through his mind late on in the match when he angled beautifully around the short side at a ruck in the Welsh 22 and accelerated between two Welsh players?

"I went through the gap, saw three Welsh players coming across, got rid of it, and got absolutely milled. I didn't see Denis (Hickie) score," he laughed.