Ireland achieved the primary requirement of beating Ulster yesterday by 25-16 at a sodden Queen's University, Belfast, in their fourth and final World Cup preparatory match. With the countdown to the finals just a dozen days away, Ulster put it up to them as anticipated and Ireland had come through unscathed, if not exactly shouting their World Cup prospects from the rooftops. The Irish management's relief was palpable. "It was very tough," sighed Warren Gatland with a hint of a smile, "and they gave us exactly what we wanted. It was hard up front and good preparation for us.

"At times we struggled to secure some decent ruck ball, which showed how committed the Ulster team were. If you looked at the England game last night (Saturday) they were able to get ruck ball with two or three players because the opposition didn't have the same competitive edge. And we're delighted with how competitive the games have been for us."

The conditions which, said Gatland, "didn't allow for free-flowing rugby for both sides" were the main hurdle. "It was difficult to move the ball. We still scored four tries at the end and had we kicked a bit better there would have been more points as well." Indeed, although Ireland outscored Ulster by four tries to one, Simon Mason landed four kicks from four, whereas David Humphreys followed up his atypically awry second-half against Argentina by landing only two from two.

"Up until today, we've been very happy with the way David has kicked. He was a little bit disappointing against Argentina and today, apart from the first couple, he said he didn't strike them as well as he would have a liked. "It's a little bit of a concern, but I think he's enough time to go away and practice," said Gatland. Perhaps Mason could yet have a consultancy/coaching role.

With a seen it, been there and bought the T-shirt air, Donal Lenihan observed that the Irish players were probably only firing at 40 per cent "of where you'd expect them to be in a Test match. "It was something we were worried about before the match when we saw the conditions and despite the warnings that were given, you could see it in the warm-up. I mean fellas had the World Cup on their minds.

"Having said that, we've come through the four matches, we've won three of them but certainly in terms of performance on the field we realise that we're going to have to be 60 to 70 per cent better when we play the USA in two weeks' time.

"But fellas have been anxious, they've been waiting for four weeks and you can see the nervousness, and there's something about Irish teams that when they're not up there, their performance suffers as a result. But as I've always said, the World Cup is what we're working for."

No doubt every bit as relieved as the management, the Irish players break up into separate provincial training camps and reassemble next Monday.

"I think it's important that we gave them a tough game today," noted Harry Williams. That Ulster did.