Gleeson disappointed despite try brace

WALES V IRELAND REPORT, OPINION AND REACTION: There are few players more articulate, forthright or honest than Ireland flanker Keith Gleeson. Two tries in an international test match, won by a single point, would ordinarily be a cause for celebration but the 26-year-old openside was disappointed with his display.

"I guess I would be critical of myself and the team because our defence was not good. It's an area we have built wins on in the last couple of weeks and it was quite poor in this match. Wales exposed that numerous times.

"I have no doubt we should have been the better side today. There would have been a lot of frustration, a lot of anger and to be honest a lot of disgust.

"We came to Wales knowing we had to do a professional job, knowing they were well and truly backed into a corner and were going to come out fighting with everything they had. It would have been very frustrating (to lose) to say the least."

The great escape, courtesy of Ronan O'Gara's heroics, however, meant Gleeson's dissatisfaction was soon giving way to a good-humoured appraisal of his two tries. "We had the numbers down the left and I was trying to fit myself in the backline somewhere to distribute the ball and typically the backs were shouting me out, so I found myself out on the wing.

"Geordan Murphy sliced between two defenders and my storming run must have been fully five metres. There wasn't much room being so close to the sideline so the sensible thing was to slide over. A mate of mine gave me some grief about the dive. He feels I've got to work on my technique.

"The second try came off a kick that was charged down. We scrambled for the ball and it came out right again. Alan Quinlan offloaded to Humphs (David Humphreys). I thought he may have taken it one step too far but he did exceptionally well to break the first line of defence and get it to me.

"Justin Bishop was outside me screaming for the ball because I had scored a try earlier on his wing and then to take the second try off him, I won't be in his fan book."

It's not the first time that Gleeson has grabbed a brace. "My Wales debut was the first try I scored and I got two against Romania. I didn't particularly play well that day so I have either got to score one try or a hat-trick."

He felt the turning point in the match followed Ireland's period of ascendancy just after the interval. "Literally just after we scored the second try, I felt there and then we were in control and we had the ability to put another couple of tries on them. That's what so disappointing.

"I'm annoyed at myself.

"At one stage Brian (O'Driscoll) made a half-break and passed the ball just behind me. I reached behind and half caught it, half got it stuck onto my hip. The try line was open but because I wasn't able to grasp the ball and bring it in, I knocked it on and I think they scored two minutes later. It was a big turning point in the game. I have not doubt if we had scored we would have raised our game and Wales fallen away."

When Stephen Jones dropped the goal to nudge Wales 24-22 in front, the Ireland players huddled behind the posts and the key word was composure.

"The heads did drop just for a split second before some of the senior players like Kevin Maggs and Anthony Foley said 'look there is at least five minutes of injury time to play. Let's compose ourselves'.

"It was a case of getting up there and getting it back. Mal, myself, Axel (Anthony Foley) and Justin (Fitzpatrick) managed to get it to Strings (Peter Stringer) who hit Rog (Ronan O'Gara) and the sweetest of things.

"The ref took an eternity to blow and I began to wonder for a split second if it had gone over. A great credit to the side that they lifted and raised their heads when they had rather than just accepting the game was over."

Leo Cullen acquitted himself well in his first championship start before going off injured in the second half: "There was a stage in the first 25 minute when the physical exertion of what appeared to be for us constant tackling because they had so much ball made it hard to catch your breath at times.

"I thought when Jones's drop goal went over all the hard work over the last couple of months had been undone. The fourth official put up the four minutes just before that so I knew there was a little bit of hope but still it was a pretty scary experience. In fairness to Rog, he showed nerves of steel."