O'Sullivan determined to start on the front foot

Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan is determined to distance his side from the newly diagnosed Croke Park factor after he watched his team struggle to come out of the blocks again against France at their temporary home ten days ago.

Slow starts have characterised some recent performances and the problem reared its head again when France tore into Ireland in the first 20 minutes of rugby's debut at GAA headquarters and scored an early try through Rafael Ibanez.

The coach says that it has been discussed behind the scenes but admits he cannot put his finger on the root of it.  With hopes of a Triple Crown still alive, it is something that needs to be addressed quickly.

"We do recognise that we have started a number of games poorly in recent years," said O'Sullivan.  "I have come at this from many angles and I'm not sure (of the reason). We have theories and we have tried different things. So again, it's about starting the game well I think.

O'Sullivan added that with so much being made of the new venue, he himself thought it may have played a part.

"In the first game, I suppose it was easy to buy into the Croke Park factor, and after the game I was kind of thinking that way. But the more I thought about it, that would be avoiding the issue again.

"There is an issue there that we have started a number games on the back foot rather than the front foot."

His captain Brian O'Driscoll acknowledges the problem too and ventured today that it may be as a result of complicating things to early on.

"Perhaps some times we try the more difficult plays in our armoury too early on in the game. We might need to play simple, direct rugby at times.

"The fact that we realise that it's a problem is the first step to doing that," he added. "I'd like to think that it won't happen on Saturday."

Ronan O'Gara would certainly agree with that sentiment. The outhalf has had a strange tournament so far, scoring two magnificent tries and kicking for the posts brilliantly against France.

However, failure to find touch on a few occasions in Cardiff and a few sliced kicks against Les Bleus have left him lukewarm on his form so far, and he feels a higher tempo would suit his game better.

"I feel that we can maybe get a little bit more intensity into our overall game that would probably benefit me, in terms of trying to get the ball on the front foot and running at them.

"I think you'd have to remember that an outhalf's game is hugely determined by what goes on around them.  Sometimes they can look very good and its as a result of other people's good work.  Other days you might look average and it's not really down to yourself.

"There's small things that make the difference at the top level and I think we need to put an intensity into our game this weekend that wasn't there against France."