Woodie Wonder is the happiest hooker

There's no danger of taking Keith Wood for granted, is there? Rob Henderson won the man-of-the-match award last time out, and David Humphreys deservedly so this time. But if Humphreys gets 10 out of 10 for his display, then Wood gets 91/2. In truth you could almost give Wood Man of the Match every time.

Saturday was just your average Woody stormer. It's a wonder he didn't throw in a drop goal. Tackling huge, dart throwing on the bulls eye, taking the ball on with typical gusto and effect as an auxiliary back, and then the coup de grace. That sidestep of Scott Gibbs was the moment of the match, and stands up to endless video reviewing.

It was his fourth try in his last 12 Tests (quite a strike rate for a hooker) and, at last, contributed to a winning cause. This was only his fifth in an Irish shirt but his first of real note, indeed his first ever in the Five Nations (as was the case for five others in Saturday's team).

"This is my first Five Nations win, which is almost embarrassing to say, as I've been around for about seven years. I am embarrassed to say it, and that's why I was particularly animated at the end of the match. I just wanted to get a win. It wasn't that much of an issue for me, to get my first Five Nations win. Having got it - it's a bit of an issue now I think - but now it's out of the way I can consign that little record to the slag heap."

For the happiest hooker around on Saturday, the win was the thing. Wood dedicated it to all Irish supporters, and more specifically "it was for Gatty, because he's been very, very good for us. We put an awful lot of hard work in without getting the results which can always be a difficult situation, and we won today. Unbelievable. Guys were tired and happy and relieved, and a whole sort of mixture of emotions."

That Gatland's first Five Nations win should come at Wembley was somehow fitting, for there is something almost Chartlonesque in the way Gatland has instilled a familial spirit within this extraordinarily closeknit group.

"It is by far and away the closest management and squad scenario that I've ever come across and he deserved a win, to be honest," said Wood. Referring to the "outstanding" discipline, Wood remarked "any time there was fisticuffs the boys stood, took them and smiled. I wouldn't have anything to say about their [Wales'] discipline. We made a promise to ourselves - actually Warren made us promise - that our discipline would be almost religious. Turn the other cheek sort of thing and we did." That comes easy to you Woody? "Don't draw me into religious conversations."

Instead he turned to politics and revealed a leaning toward radical left-wing thinking when asked about scoring at Wembley. "I don't think a whole lot about it. I mean, it's great and I might think about it later in the week but in the greater scheme of things, my try means absolutely nothing to be honest. It's a win. "I sound almost communist," admitted Red Wood, "but it's the team, it's the collective, it's whatever. I mean, the jubilation at the end is relief, it's been a barren while and we needed the win." English journalists inquiring about the prospect of England at Lansdowne Road were left disappointed. "I am actually, physically and mentally, incapable of making a thought that's two weeks away. We'll start on Monday. I'm not even going to think about that now."

And mention of Humphreys obliged Wood to conclude: "I think it's only fair to mention his contribution. I thought he was outstanding. He marshalled our play brilliantly. He was definitely man-of-the-match, head and shoulder above everybody else on the pitch. I thought he had a cracking game, and I'm delighted for him. He had a tough time after the French match, but he's made of stern stuff."

Wood even gives the best man-of-the-match addresses.