Happy days when this is routine

RUGBY: Lansdowne Road is becoming a little spoiled. An oddly colourless, relatively subdued crowd had become so sated by the first half that they resorted to a Mexican wave during the second - a sure sign of ennui. Yet this, after all, was Ireland's biggest win over a Tri-Nations team.

Comparing the celebrations to the 17-12 win over South Africa two years ago, this was muted, especially on the pitch. Admittedly this was nothing like a full-strength Boks team, and in fact this generation of Irish players should be able to put them away.

The players reacted accordingly, and Brian O'Driscoll merely spoke of this being a benchmark for the autumnal programme and the season ahead. Ireland have bigger meat to fry than undercooked Springboks. Though Ireland scored four tries against the Boks for the first time, in truth, it could have been even bigger.

They were clearly well prepared for what to expect, and with Ronan O'Gara masterfully pulling the strings and varying his game deftly, the precision and patience with which they dissected a kamikaze blitz defence bespoke a quality outfit.

The sense of satisfaction among the coaching staff was palpable. If Ireland are to be picky, and they will be, they'll reflect on not converting more of their 18 clean line breaks into scores. No less than the players, Graham Steadman wasn't doing cartwheels over the defence being opened up nine times and conceding two tries, although in a general sense he spoke of it being a sound base.

"Initially it was our spacing. We tightened that up at half-time, but other than that I was pleased with our 'd', although that figure has to be cut by half."

Reflecting on the setpieces, Niall O'Donovan commented: "When you consider the wind, I thought Rory (Best) had a superb game. Apart from the first (throw), which was blown off, and another when the ball was in Denis Leamy's hands, his lineout throwing was excellent. The lineout defence was very good and I was very pleased with the scrum apart from one or two glitches."

One of the many boons on the day was the performance of Andrew Trimble, who, apart from being physically more imposing this season, looked like he'd really arrived on the international stage.

Trimble's confidence and work-rate perhaps also reflected his increased familiarity with being on the wing at Ulster this season. Reminding us of this, O'Sullivan said: "There's more to come."

Vindication for the coach here too.

O'Sullivan also has a clean bill of health, and cannot recall a match he's been involved in, from Blackrock under-13s up, where no player required treatment for even a knock. He was particularly thrilled with the hunger in the performance, which in turn he attributed to their general freshness.

Now O'Sullivan needs to start gradually expanding his squad base, but although Saturday's performance allows him the elbow room he wanted, changes will be minimal when he unveils his hand to play Australia.

"A very, very different team from South Africa," said O'Sullivan, a self-confessed member of the Wallabies Admiration Society. "They're a very, very smart unit.

"They are dangerous because they're in a mode where they're trying things out, both tactically and selection-wise," he added, referring to trying players in different positions.

"And I always believe they have the capacity to change their game. They're a bit of a chameleon - you can read too much into what they do, because they can go out next week and do something different. I've always admired that and I've always aspired to that; that you don't become predictable."

All in all, it's hard not to get a little giddy, especially when you set Ireland's strength, stability and quality against the troubles of England and France. Andy (Robinson) and Bernard (Laporte) must stay! At least until Croke Park.

The temptation is to start checking out Ireland's odds for the Six Nations, even the Grand Slam, or for that matter the World Cup. For the record, it's 7 to 4, 3 to 1 and now 10 to 1 (joint fourth favourites) from 14 to 1 to win the World Cup. Paddy Power aren't exactly throwing it away but the pity is the Six Nations or RWC 2007 don't start today.

Needless to say, O'Sullivan was not inclined to offer hostages to fortune by echoing Clive Woodward's stated objective to win the World Cup.

"I wouldn't approach things as Clive wood," he replied to the notion Ireland might set a similarly ambitious target.

"That's way down the track and we take a different approach to things. The only aim we have stated, as a union, is to get to the semi-finals, and I think if you got there you'd let the devil take the hindmost after that."

He's also mindful of Ireland's pool, and was not in the least surprised by Argentina's win over England:

"The reality of it is that that result wasn't a major shock. They have 90 professional players playing overseas, and we've one of the best ones here in Ireland, so it's no surprise."

Besides which, failure to win the pool will almost certainly mean a quarter-final against the almighty All Blacks in Cardiff. Ye gods!

O'Sullivan admitted he thought Graham Henry's decision to make 10 changes against France in Lyon was a risk: "I didn't see the game but it's ominous for everybody that you have a country with that sort of depth. But having a chat with Steve Hansen this time last year, he said, 'Coaching New Zealand at the moment is not difficult. We have 45 players and it's a toss of a coin as to which 15 to pick.' And that's been borne out.

"Whatever 30 Graham Henry brings to France, it's going to be frightening for everybody . . . And he'll probably make another 10 changes for next week." Frightening alright.

* Leinster wing Denis Hickie has been called into the Ireland squad as cover for Andrew Trimble, who felt a hamstring tighten in Saturday's game.

Hickie's place in the Ireland A team to play Australia on Wednesday goes to his Leinster team-mate Robert Kearney. Gavin Duffy of Harlequins is added to the bench.