Bewildered O'Driscoll offers no excuses

Namibia thought that at one rip-roaring phase in the second half last night they could have pulled off the impossible and beaten Eddie O'Sullivan's side.

The Namibian management defiantly returned to the media centre and said they might have pulled it off.

"I think on the day we played brilliantly. It was not a win but I think that it could have been a win. I say brilliant to my guys," said the Namibian coach Hakkies Husselman.

"I'm very proud. As a team the guys showed a lot of courage especially the amateur guys," said Kees Lensing, the captain, adding that "of the 30-player base, six of seven of them play professional rugby."

It was to that backdrop that Brian O'Driscoll had to answer. Although his coach had led the way in apportioning blame at the right place - the team, O'Driscoll was unafraid to layer it on even thicker.

"It was a really awful display," said the Irish captain, who arrived to the press conference with his left arm in a sling as a result of hyperextending it during the game.

"It started badly and got worse as the game went on," added the centre, who played his first match since being punched in Ireland's warm-up match against Bayonne.

"No excuses. In the dressing-room it is all just massive disappointment on all levels and we have a huge, huge amount to improve on in the next game."

O'Driscoll continued just as O'Sullivan had done, in a bewildered tone.

"We know our standards as we showed in the Six Nations this year but we struggled to produce that form since then. Time is running out but we are not going to lose the head just yet."

At a team level as well as a personal level, O'Driscoll was disappointed. While he did much good during the match, he too was not beyond criticism and added to the unforced error count.

"I was really excited about coming out to France and playing in the World Cup," he said.

"That's not what we anticipated personally and collectively. We now have a huge amount to improve on so it's going to be a big week of hard work for all of us."

Of Namibia's performance, O'Driscoll said that there too Ireland were in a large part to blame. Leading the match, they allowed their opponents to play their way out of trouble and grow in stature as the match went on.

"I think they really grew into the game," he said. "You have to give them credit where it's deserved.

"When we made mistake after mistake their confidence started to grow. We did anything but put them to the sword. We got what we deserved up to a point."

For now there is a vacuum of sorts in the Irish camp. O'Sullivan spoke about trying to fathom how the team got to this level of performance and what they might do to plug the holes and get team Ireland back functioning as it should be. For now at least, confidence is shattered. O'Sullivan's toughest job to date could be this week's preparation.

"Georgia are a better side," said the coach. "It's important that we improve our performance dramatically." And for once after a press conference, there was not one dissenter. A first for the Irish coach.